American International Group Inc. Sells 9,255 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

American International Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,255 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $11,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,160,066.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,552,727 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $125.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,620,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,981,250. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $134.00 and its 200 day moving average is $134.91.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.52%.

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.