Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 977 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.2 %

YUM stock opened at $130.67 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $132.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $36.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.89.

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.