Independence Bank of Kentucky Sells 245 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Independence Bank of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,755 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,685 shares of company stock valued at $13,910,094 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $135.52 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $132.49 and its 200 day moving average is $135.79. The stock has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

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.