Nordea Investment Management AB Decreases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 27,895 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.08% of Yum! Brands worth $28,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $128.61 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.76 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $135.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.99.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for 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. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.78.

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.