Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,998 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.5% in the third quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Bank AR boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 1,945 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on YUM. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $127.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $35.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

About Yum! Brands

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.