Naples Money Management LLC Buys Shares of 200 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,239,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 75,766.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,640,982 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $210,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638,819 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 121.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,819,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $227,367,000 after purchasing an additional 999,443 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,507,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $652,773,000 after purchasing an additional 901,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,257,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $417,260,000 after purchasing an additional 698,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $138.50 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.17.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.94%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

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.