Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Holdings Lessened by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 336,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 29,080 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.12% of Yum! Brands worth $44,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $37,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $134.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.85.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $1.41 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be 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 is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.