New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 10,900 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 207,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,900 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $31,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $602,551,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,382,000 after purchasing an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 115.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $197,013,000 after buying an additional 703,891 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 35.9% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,306,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $341,841,000 after acquiring an additional 609,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31,860.2% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,400,000 after purchasing an additional 448,592 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $42,274.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This trade represents a 95.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.30.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $155.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.67. The stock has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.73 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 17.95%.The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.