Quantitative Investment Management LLC Has $2.77 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Quantitative Investment Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1,019.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 16,593 shares during the quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 833.3% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,365,096. The trade was a 45.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $47,149.68. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum reported strong Q4 results, rising operating profit and system momentum with ~4,500 new restaurant openings globally — evidence the franchise-led model is scaling and supporting revenue and margin guidance. Did Yum!’s Q4 Beat and 4,500 New Openings Just Shift Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Investment Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut rolled out the “Hut Crust” platform and a $10 large three?topping promotion (first recipe update in over a decade) to drive traffic and AUV lift for the Pizza Hut brand. Product refreshes like this can help close the gap with competitors on value and relevance. PIZZA HUT LAUNCHES HUT CRUST PLATFORM FOR CRUST LOVERS & SETS OUT TO HIRE FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND HUT CRUST CONNOISSEUR
• Positive Sentiment: KFC (a Yum brand) launched a limited-time “20 Wings for $20” bracket?season value promotion — a national, high-visibility deal that should boost traffic and basket sizes during a key hosting period. KFC® Turns Up the Heat for Bracket Season with 20 Wings for 20*
• Positive Sentiment: Franchise expansion activity in Europe — e.g., Collins Foods acquiring KFC outlets in Germany — signals continued third?party investment in the KFC model and incremental international growth for Yum’s ecosystem. Collins Foods to acquire eight KFC outlets in Germany
• Neutral Sentiment: Domino’s is reporting strong same-store sales momentum driven by digital orders, value deals and global expansion — competitive strength at DPZ could pressure Pizza Hut and category share, but also signals robust pizza demand overall. Can Domino’s Same-Store Sales Strength Support Retail Growth in 2026?
• Neutral Sentiment: Papa John’s continues to invest in digital and loyalty to drive repeat orders — a competitive initiative that matters regionally but is not an immediate threat to Yum’s scale. Can Papa John’s Digital Investments & Loyalty Expansion Drive Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports of takeover interest in Papa John’s and related market moves lift volatility across the pizza peer group but are indirect for Yum; useful for industry comps and M&A sentiment. Papa John’s Stock Jumps on Reported Takeover Bid
• Negative Sentiment: Analysis pieces flag Yum! as underperforming the Dow in recent stretches, which could weigh on sentiment and limit near?term multiple expansion despite operational wins. Is Yum! Brands Stock Underperforming the Dow?

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. 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 $158.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.75.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.