J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Cuts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,837 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,190 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the third quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total value of $3,627,901.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $153.95 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.73 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 17.95%.The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.30.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.