Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Sells 490 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,147 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 490 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $125.31 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.63. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $34.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.24.

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.