Cohen Klingenstein LLC Sells 7,200 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,870 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 7,200 shares during the period. Yum! Brands makes up approximately 0.7% of Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Cohen Klingenstein LLC owned 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $19,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $125.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $134.08 and a 200 day moving average of $133.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital reduced their target price 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. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.24.

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.