Cullinan Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,837 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 12,883 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.5% in the third quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.35. 2,177,029 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,996,058. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $36.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $132.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.89.

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.