Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 15.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 913,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 166,342 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.33% of Yum! Brands worth $135,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $29,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 219.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.38.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $144.99 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total transaction of $189,550.53. Following the transaction, the insider owned 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This represents a 95.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,146 shares of company stock valued at $5,699,770. 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.