EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 145 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607,517 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,512,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,883 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,033,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,813 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,939,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $823,534,000 after acquiring an additional 121,285 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $139.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.37. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Yum! Brands Company 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.