Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 12.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 533 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,022,648,000 after buying an additional 5,607,517 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,883 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $200,668,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,033,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 36.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,174,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,498,000 after purchasing an additional 582,267 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $133.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.27. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.28 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 49.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Evercore ISI cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,673 shares of company stock valued at $13,918,095 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.