Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 79.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 93,472 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $138.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.15 and its 200 day moving average is $134.53. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands 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.