ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Takes $5.68 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, purchasing 36,120 shares valued at approximately $5.68 million.
• Various hedge funds have also increased their positions in Yum! Brands, with institutional investors and hedge funds now owning 82.37% of the company's stock.
• Yum! Brands recently missed earnings estimates, reporting $1.44 earnings per share, below the consensus estimate of $1.46, while revenue increased by 9.6% year over year.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 36,120 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $5,684,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,983 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,764. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.9%

YUM stock opened at $142.61 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $145.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

Yum! Brands 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.

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