Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,921 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 177,646 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $22,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,730,000 after purchasing an additional 7,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE YUM traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.27. 992,490 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,252. The company has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $134.45 and a 200 day moving average of $134.50.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered 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. 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 research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.94.

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.