Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Holdings Lowered by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC cut its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $79,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 31,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,908,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.3% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.3% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.2% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 17,955 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of YUM traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $137.95. 1,987,759 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,008,175. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $138.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.95. The stock has a market cap of $38.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,373 shares of company stock valued at $4,087,920. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.