Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 12,070 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,596,000 after purchasing an additional 198,069 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,124 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $381,000. Finally, Adviser Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.8% during the third quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $137.84 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.08. The firm has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. Corporate 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.