Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,151 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $30,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607,517 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 10,639 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $272,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The trade was a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 4.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,319 shares of company stock worth $2,063,221. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $136.74 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $134.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.64. The company has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.70 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

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.