GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 314 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,433 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caxton Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 529.7% in the fourth quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 20,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 17,082 shares in the last quarter. Concentric Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 291.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $931,000. Finally, Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued 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 $145.25.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $134.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $37.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.38. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.