Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after acquiring an additional 178,612 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 147,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 80.9% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,865,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 182.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,315 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,015,000 after buying an additional 64,771 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $129.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $132.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.58. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Company 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.