Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Position Increased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,613 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.92 on Friday, reaching $128.05. 1,874,400 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,996,463. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $133.44 and a 200 day moving average of $134.85. The company has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,552,727. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands 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.