Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,325 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 759 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after acquiring an additional 7,814 shares during the period. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE YUM opened at $133.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $134.42 and a 200 day moving average of $134.54. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.70 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.94.

About Yum! Brands

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.