Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 8.1%, lowering its holdings to 93,025 shares valued at approximately $14.6 million.
• Analysts generally maintain a hold rating on Yum! Brands with a consensus price target of $161.23, although some firms have issued buy ratings with targets as high as $200.00.
• Recent insider activity includes CEO Scott Mezvinsky selling 263 shares for nearly $36,800, reflecting a 13.03% decline in his ownership position.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,025 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 8,147 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $245,559.60. The trade was a 13.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,958 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,725. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $148.19 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $145.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.

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