96,904 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Purchased by AMF Tjanstepension AB

AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 96,904 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $12,846,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 11,541.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 141,678 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,512,000 after buying an additional 140,461 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $257,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 914 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 67.1% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 3,295 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,089 shares of company stock valued at $3,693,505 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $136.47. 3,070,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,002,436. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.