Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $979,382.86 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE YUM opened at $137.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.08. The company has a market capitalization of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 22,079 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

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.