Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,112 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% in 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 buying an additional 178,612 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after buying an additional 147,180 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $19,041,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in 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 buying an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $12,846,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $135.26 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.70 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.50. The firm has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 4.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on YUM. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

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.