Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 39,642 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 94.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 39,642 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $37,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $39,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE YUM opened at $137.00 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.76 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $135.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.50. The company has a market cap of $38.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. Corporate 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.