California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 65,551 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 641,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 65,551 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $99,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $706,799,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $632,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $168,604,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.9%

YUM stock opened at $147.71 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $154.38 and its 200-day moving average is $156.85. The firm has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% 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 90 days, insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reiterated its upcoming second-quarter earnings schedule, keeping attention on potential bottom-line improvement when results are released later this month. Yum! Brands Announces Q2 2026 Earnings and Conference Call Details
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts expect the Taco Bell lettuce scare to have a limited long-term impact, suggesting the stock could stabilize once the contamination issue is contained. The cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taco Bell is hitting some restaurant stocks, but don’t expect a long-term impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on what Yum! Brands’ next quarterly report may show, with commentary pointing to expected earnings growth for the quarter. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Authorities linked Taco Bell’s shredded iceberg lettuce supplier to the cyclosporiasis outbreak, which could hurt Taco Bell sales, trigger cleanup costs, and create reputational risk for Yum! Brands. Sweetgreen Pares 26% Drop as Parasite Tied to Taco Bell Lettuce
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell has already removed the affected shredded lettuce in some states after government warnings, reinforcing concern that the outbreak may disrupt operations and consumer traffic in the near term. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report

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.