Ballentine Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 31.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,349 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 2,251 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $283,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 140,412 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $18,838,000 after purchasing an additional 49,362 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $22,984,484.01. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,742 shares of company stock worth $1,861,504. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $149.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $145.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.71. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

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.

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