Wedmont Private Capital Acquires 161 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $125.87 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $134.47 and its 200 day moving average is $133.74. The firm has a market cap of $35.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.24.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.