Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,047 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $137.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $38.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $136.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.78. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total transaction of $485,312.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,406,963.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,742 shares of company stock worth $2,734,628. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.