Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 27,895 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 210,020 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 27,895 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.08% of Yum! Brands worth $28,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth about $39,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Yum! Brands stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $127.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,025,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,002,636. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.76 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $35.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $135.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.95.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $146.78.

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.