Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Director Sells $859,222.71 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $2.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $136.76. 1,032,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,994,707. The stock has a market cap of $38.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.69. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Yum! Brands by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,596,000 after purchasing an additional 198,069 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 16.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 16,124 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 140.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 66,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,671,000 after acquiring an additional 38,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.