AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 4,710 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.1%, now owning 61,852 shares valued at approximately $9.59 million.
• CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares for just under $37,000, representing a 13.03% decline in his ownership of the stock.
• Yum! Brands reported $1.44 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, while also announcing a $0.71 quarterly dividend to be paid on September 12th.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 61,852 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 4,710 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st 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. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $149.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,809,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,964. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $146.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.98. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.02%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total value of $36,798.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,016 shares of company stock worth $4,271,543 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Company 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.