Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Grows Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 128.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 5,134 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the 2nd 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM traded down $1.64 on Friday, reaching $137.00. 1,044,313 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,415,504. The firm has a market cap of $38.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.76 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.49.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 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.