State of Alaska Department of Revenue Trims Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,455 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $134.86 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.02. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.26 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Evercore ISI lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.