Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 103 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on YUM. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of YUM opened at $130.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.59.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 50.09%.

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.