Vestcor Inc Sells 3,377 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Vestcor Inc lowered its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,828 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,377 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% in 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, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $145.41. 1,930,682 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,128,268. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $145.65 and a 200-day moving average of $146.12. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,720 shares of company stock worth $2,150,965. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.