Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 598,990 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 29,054 shares during the quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY owned approximately 0.21% of Yum! Brands worth $78,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $69,596,000 after purchasing an additional 198,069 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,124 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,689 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Adviser Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.8% in the third quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 11,541.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 141,678 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $18,512,000 after purchasing an additional 140,461 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Yum! Brands from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $137.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,950,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,865,368. The firm has a market cap of $38.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average price is $136.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.78. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 47.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total value of $485,312.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,406,963.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total transaction of $485,312.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at $7,406,963.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,742 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,628 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% 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.