Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Bridgewater Associates LP decreased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 79.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 93,472 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE YUM opened at $138.94 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.70 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

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.