Tidal Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,767 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $137.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a PEG ratio of 2.39 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.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) 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). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

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.