New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,253 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 17,790 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Yum! Brands worth $31,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $156.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $131.16 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.42 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $134.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.95.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 49.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total value of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,818.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total value of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,818.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.