Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Aaron Powell Sells 12,000 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Aaron Powell also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 11th, Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1%

YUM stock opened at $162.85 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.12. The company has a market cap of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.34, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 51.17%.

Key Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reaffirmed a Buy and keeps a $180 price target, citing Taco Bell momentum and potential re-rating after Pizza Hut actions — a bullish analyst signal for the stock. TD Cowen Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Yum’s Byte by Yum AI platform continues to be promoted as a competitive advantage for operators (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Habit), which could lift unit economics and long-term growth. Byte by Yum AI
• Positive Sentiment: Yum reported double-digit profit growth in Q4 and revenue that beat estimates, demonstrating underlying earnings strength despite some brand-level softness. Q4 Profit Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is conducting a formal review of Pizza Hut, including exploring a possible sale; that could unlock value long-term but also introduces execution and timing uncertainty. Pizza Hut Strategic Review
• Negative Sentiment: Yum announced it will close ~250 underperforming U.S. Pizza Hut locations in H1 2026 — a sign of structural weakness in the chain that may pressure near-term U.S. sales and investor sentiment. Pizza Hut Store Closures
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares (about a 45% cut in his direct holdings) on Feb 5; while insider sales can be for many reasons, large exits by executives often raise investor concern. SEC Form 4 – Powell Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS missed Street estimates ($1.73 vs $1.76) even as revenue beat, highlighting margin or timing pressures that traders may punish near term. Q4 Earnings Call Transcript

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,356,869,000 after purchasing an additional 684,946 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,459,940,000 after purchasing an additional 487,069 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,131,263 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,945,791,000 after acquiring an additional 297,641 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,216,042 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,217,826,000 after buying an additional 218,046 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $602,551,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, December 5th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.50.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.