State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $13.50 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 35.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,917 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 56,003 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,415,000. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 333,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000,000 after buying an additional 5,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,259,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of YUM opened at $133.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.78.

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. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total value of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,818.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total transaction of $1,134,562.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,818.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands 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.