Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Silvant Capital Management LLC

Silvant Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,539 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,178 shares during the period. Silvant Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607,517 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,512,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,883 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,033,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,939,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $823,534,000 after purchasing an additional 121,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,326.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,673 shares of company stock valued at $13,918,095 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.44.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $132.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.92. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $37.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.08%.

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.