Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Purchased by NewEdge Wealth LLC

NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 92.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,164 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,459,940,000 after purchasing an additional 487,069 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,348,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $509,025,000 after purchasing an additional 176,221 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,943,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $447,364,000 after purchasing an additional 153,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.0% in the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,735,106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $415,736,000 after purchasing an additional 104,336 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,053 shares of company stock worth $171,899. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.22.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.6%

YUM opened at $150.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $157.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.03.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.39%.

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.