Caprock Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Caprock Group LLC cut its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 21.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,581 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 723 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in 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 worth $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,243,000 after purchasing an additional 58,437 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $116,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after buying an additional 20,966 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 10.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 657,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $91,922,000 after buying an additional 63,406 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $135.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.49. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $123.70 and a one year high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 currently 50.09%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.