First County Bank CT Reduces Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

First County Bank CT decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 16.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,629 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during 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 buying an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after purchasing an additional 7,814 shares during the period. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $134.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $134.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.50. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.70 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 4.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. Company 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.