Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky Sells 268 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total value of $39,119.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,177.35. This trade represents a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of YUM stock traded down $1.23 on Thursday, hitting $142.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,250,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,352. The firm has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.87. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. Yum! Brands's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $3,306,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 140,412 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $18,838,000 after purchasing an additional 49,362 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $225,025,000 after purchasing an additional 44,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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.