Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 12,002 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 8.5%, now holding 128,410 shares valued at approximately $20.2 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of Yum! Brands, with several firms like Vanguard and Price T Rowe Associates increasing their shareholdings significantly in recent quarters.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 56.02%.

Gotham Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,410 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 12,002 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $20,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,795.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769,805 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $121,137,000 after acquiring an additional 764,637 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $97,453,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after buying an additional 483,918 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 28.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,940,044 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $305,286,000 after buying an additional 430,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,944,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded up $0.90 on Friday, reaching $144.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,455,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,337. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $40.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.06.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUM. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $36,798.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $245,559.60. The trade was a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $4,271,543 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.