Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $21,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 333,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000,000 after buying an additional 5,137 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.1% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 99,909 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,852,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $137.21 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $134.32 and a 200-day moving average of $134.81. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.60 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total transaction of $1,134,562.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,818.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,622 shares of company stock valued at $4,172,740. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Company 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.