QRG Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,898 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $243,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,355,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $291,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 78.1% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $2,039,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total transaction of $1,134,562.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,818.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $132.76 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.60 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.84.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America cut 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.44.

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.