Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 41.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 26,998 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $147.74 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $149.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.05.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,334 shares of company stock valued at $9,734,737 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.70.

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.