Sapient Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, DB Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $136.19 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.14 and its 200 day moving average is $131.80. The stock has a market cap of $38.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,373 shares of company stock worth $4,087,920 over the last three months. 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.