Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 68,628 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,012,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 68,628 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up 0.9% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $153,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arax Advisory Partners grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 109.9% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 3,354 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,497 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,706,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $1,667,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of YUM opened at $154.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.