Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $979,382.86 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $138.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $38.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.97. 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 quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer raised Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% 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.