Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Buys Shares of 1,555 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,555 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.2 %

Yum! Brands stock traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $124.93. 872,313 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,805,429. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.68 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $135.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.61.

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.