Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,581 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,778 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,581 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.31.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $134.34 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.42. The company has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.