Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Boosts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,592 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 6,910 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $315,996,000 after acquiring an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,306,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,825,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $225,025,000 after acquiring an additional 44,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,334 shares of company stock valued at $9,734,737 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM traded up $1.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $149.41. 954,840 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,995,294. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $149.76 and a 200 day moving average of $142.05. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.70.

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.