Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 333 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 41.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 7,042 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,532 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,930,000 after purchasing an additional 28,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $136.62 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.70 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $134.32 and its 200-day moving average is $134.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,388 shares of company stock valued at $3,038,177 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

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.