Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $352,000 Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.53.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $136.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.14 and its 200-day moving average is $131.80.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,373 shares of company stock worth $4,087,920. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.