Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,998 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.75.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of YUM opened at $140.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.54. The company has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.24.

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

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.