Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 83.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 109,682 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 135.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 80.3% in the 1st quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $283,000. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $2,830,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total transaction of $39,119.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,177.35. This trade represents a 13.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total value of $1,028,160.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,470 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,172. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $143.88 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $145.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.35.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.24.

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.