NS Partners Ltd Acquires 2,814 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

NS Partners Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 179,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,814 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $25,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,730,000 after buying an additional 7,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $984,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.4 %

YUM stock opened at $132.13 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.70 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

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.