Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 90.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 517,978 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the 2nd 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 increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

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

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $135.27 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.49.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (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 company 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 firm earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Company 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.