Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,048 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $133.04 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $134.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.04. The firm has a market cap of $37.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.28 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.44.

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.