AXQ Capital LP Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,635 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,020,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after purchasing an additional 124,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $706,799,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at $74,054.48. This trade represents a 35.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $150.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.49 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Yum! Brands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.65.

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.

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