Harbour Investments Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased 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 purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after buying an additional 7,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $133.59 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $37.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.59.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 4.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This trade represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,319 shares of company stock valued at $2,063,221. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on YUM. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

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.