Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 4,100 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 76,753 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $11,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 756 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,830 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1,081.9% in the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 24,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 22,287 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 6,537 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,020,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 14,665 shares of company stock worth $2,374,563 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $153.91 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $159.59 and its 200 day moving average is $154.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.22.

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.