Quest Partners LLC Buys 2,429 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,445,000 after purchasing an additional 178,612 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,708,000 after buying an additional 147,180 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $19,041,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $12,846,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.8 %

YUM stock opened at $135.26 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.70 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.50.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.