B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Purchases Shares of 29,214 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 29,214 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $4,081,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,214 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.7% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 7,112 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $199,511,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $309,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price 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 reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.94.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $134.22. 1,031,073 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,940,268. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.50. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.70 and a 52 week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Yum! Brands

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.