Nilsine Partners LLC Purchases 349 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,067 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,645,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 5,684 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE YUM opened at $129.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $132.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.60. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.89.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% 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.