Pensionfund Sabic Buys 3,500 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 59.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 10,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 130,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,620,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $133.13. The stock had a trading volume of 89,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,262,960. The company has a market capitalization of $37.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $124.76 and a one year high of $143.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $135.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.06.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. 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 is currently 50.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.00.

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.