Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,078 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,607,517 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after buying an additional 3,470,883 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $200,668,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,362,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 36.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,174,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,498,000 after purchasing an additional 582,267 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $132.34 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.89. The stock has a market cap of $37.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.79 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 49.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,947,485.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $9,745,355.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.