Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Cuts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,363 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,586 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 31,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 3,789 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $1,211,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 121.7% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 181,291 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,650,000 after buying an additional 99,518 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,515 shares of company stock valued at $4,620,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

YUM stock opened at $132.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.33.

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.