State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $7.12 Million Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,050 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,058,156,000 after purchasing an additional 373,232 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,914,257,000 after purchasing an additional 678,659 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $331,831,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,592,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $208,045,000 after purchasing an additional 570,263 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,555,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $203,178,000 after purchasing an additional 33,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.51 on Wednesday, reaching $129.52. The stock had a trading volume of 935,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,994,410. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $137.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.52%.

About Yum! Brands

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.