Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 3,980 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,503 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,980 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, DB Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $140.10 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.56 and its 200 day moving average is $130.54. The company has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Yum! Brands

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.