Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Holdings Lessened by Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after acquiring an additional 73,844 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $984,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $126.59. The stock had a trading volume of 205,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,828,901. The company’s 50 day moving average is $134.30 and its 200-day moving average is $133.68. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $35.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.24.

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.