Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stock Holdings Lessened by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 248,284 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,412 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $37,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $602,551,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,382,000 after purchasing an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $197,013,000 after purchasing an additional 703,891 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 35.9% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,306,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $341,841,000 after purchasing an additional 609,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 31,860.2% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $68,400,000 after purchasing an additional 448,592 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $42,274.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. The trade was a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $160.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $165.32.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday. Evercore upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.29.

Yum! Brands 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.