King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 2,312 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,312 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 acquiring an additional 198,069 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 16.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $381,000. American National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 23,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,027,000 after buying an additional 7,934 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 66,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,671,000 after buying an additional 38,818 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale 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 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,521 shares of company stock valued at $4,620,263 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $137.03. The company had a trading volume of 229,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,955,930. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.23. The stock has a market cap of $38.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

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.