David W. Gibbs Sells 7,078 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $137.83 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.02. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.24. The stock has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,737 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

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.