Cresset Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 57.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 20,656 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 130,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,620,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 352,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,234,000 after buying an additional 10,526 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 2,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 14,081 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $147.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $151.04 and a 200-day moving average of $141.48. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.