Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stake Lessened by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 85.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,775 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 16,119 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.4% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 587 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM traded down $3.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $131.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,834,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,454. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.76 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $36.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $135.36 and its 200-day moving average is $134.45.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Yum! Brands 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.