Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 38.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,544 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607,517 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 10,639 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $272,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $133.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $134.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.70 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. This represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,319 shares of company stock valued at $2,063,221. 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.