Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 332,476 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,608,717 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 332,476 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up about 0.5% of Victory Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.29% of Yum! Brands worth $471,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded down $6.34 on Wednesday, hitting $134.91. 2,122,522 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,965,434. The company has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.25 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.37.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 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 the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. 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 90 days. 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.