Brown Advisory Inc. Has $4.08 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Brown Advisory Inc. cut its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUM. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.53.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,521 shares of company stock worth $4,620,263. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

YUM opened at $139.15 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.21. The stock has a market cap of $39.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted 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 net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands 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.