Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 736 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 736 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,573 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 175.9% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,485 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 7,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 144.7% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 8,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,264 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6%

YUM stock opened at $148.05 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.29.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.81, for a total value of $261,161.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,559.68. The trade was a 95.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,538 shares of company stock worth $2,029,594. Corporate insiders own 0.33% 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.