Davis R M Inc. Sells 386 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Davis R M Inc. cut its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,042 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded down $1.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 545,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,978,445. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,398 shares of company stock worth $4,552,727 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.