GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 1,735 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 50.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $693,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 352,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,526 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 130,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,620,000 after purchasing an additional 14,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1,199.8% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 22,877 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,195,000 after purchasing an additional 21,117 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $133.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.08. The stock has a market cap of $37.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.76 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.