Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,078 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, DB Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $141.56 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $137.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.69. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.24. The company has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.