Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stock Holdings Boosted by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 470,206 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,060 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $75,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15,378.9% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,142,092 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,212,915,000 after purchasing an additional 69,688,945 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,186,811,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $706,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $740,462,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $638,589,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,054.48. This trade represents a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.24.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $141.43 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.97. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $38.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.