Stablepoint Partners LLC Has $661,000 Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Stablepoint Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,203 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,021,194,000 after acquiring an additional 163,462 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $418,692,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $338,296,000 after purchasing an additional 24,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $144.92 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.02.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 56.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total value of $1,028,160.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $22,984,484.01. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total transaction of $39,119.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $256,177.35. The trade was a 13.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,763 shares of company stock worth $2,637,564. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.30.

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.