Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs Sells 7,059 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $134.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $134.44 and its 200-day moving average is $134.53. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.70 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after buying an additional 3,470,883 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Yum! Brands by 10.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,033,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,813 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,681,933 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,200,000 after purchasing an additional 427,487 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUM. Bank of America reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

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.