Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Buys 241 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,081 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after purchasing an additional 178,612 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $127.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.76 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $135.03 and a 200-day moving average of $133.90.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.78.

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.