162,605 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Acquired by Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought 162,605 shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter, worth about $24.6 million, making the stock its 20th largest holding.
• Yum! Brands reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $1.50 per share on revenue of $2.06 billion, with revenue up 15.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share payable June 12, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $176.22.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 162,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $24,599,000. Yum! Brands makes up about 0.6% of Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned 0.06% of Yum! Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 3,589 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE YUM opened at $150.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,053 shares of company stock valued at $171,899 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.22.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc NYSE: YUM is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company's principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company's operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.