Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 42.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 11,541.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 141,678 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,512,000 after purchasing an additional 140,461 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 57,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,578,000 after acquiring an additional 20,193 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 11,019 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 139,896 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,279,000 after acquiring an additional 50,499 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.40. 1,669,807 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,981,394. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $38.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.43.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,376 shares of company stock worth $13,730,237 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.