Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,587 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,636 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $208,000. Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $272,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 23,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $402,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 32,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,637 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $133.59 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.70 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $134.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.