Crews Bank & Trust Buys Shares of 747 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 747 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 44.6% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $130.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.53. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on YUM. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.89.

Yum! Brands 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.