Arizona State Retirement System Has $12.89 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $12,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 151.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,657,000 after buying an additional 94,355 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $55,564,000 after purchasing an additional 6,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.7%

YUM traded down $2.53 on Monday, hitting $147.26. 1,908,432 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,169,524. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. Yum! Brands's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Melius initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total value of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,742 shares of company stock valued at $1,861,504. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.