Insider Selling: Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells 71,051 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2 %

YUM opened at $136.79 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.25. The company has a market capitalization of $38.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,415,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 16,124 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $381,000. American National Bank increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 23,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after acquiring an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $268,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.