Entropy Technologies LP Sells 10,111 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Entropy Technologies LP decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 63.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,111 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,415,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,596,000 after buying an additional 198,069 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,752,000 after buying an additional 16,124 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 23,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,027,000 after buying an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,160,066.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,552,727 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.31.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of YUM traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $129.35. 1,753,794 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,993,171. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $135.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.98. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.