SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 98.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,763 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 287,877 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $39,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $130.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $132.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.53. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.