California Public Employees Retirement System Has $99.67 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System cut its Yum! Brands stake by 9.3% in the first quarter, but still held 641,062 shares worth about $99.67 million as of its latest filing.
• Insider selling continued, with CEO Sean Tresvant and CEO Scott Mezvinsky both trimming their holdings; overall, insiders sold 12,423 shares worth about $1.95 million last quarter.
• Yum! Brands was also under pressure from a Taco Bell lettuce contamination scare, though analysts said the impact may be limited, while the company remains supported by a recent $4 billion share buyback authorization and a quarterly dividend.

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 641,062 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 65,551 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.23% of Yum! Brands worth $99,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reiterated its upcoming second-quarter earnings schedule, keeping attention on potential bottom-line improvement when results are released later this month. Yum! Brands Announces Q2 2026 Earnings and Conference Call Details
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts expect the Taco Bell lettuce scare to have a limited long-term impact, suggesting the stock could stabilize once the contamination issue is contained. The cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taco Bell is hitting some restaurant stocks, but don't expect a long-term impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on what Yum! Brands’ next quarterly report may show, with commentary pointing to expected earnings growth for the quarter. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Authorities linked Taco Bell’s shredded iceberg lettuce supplier to the cyclosporiasis outbreak, which could hurt Taco Bell sales, trigger cleanup costs, and create reputational risk for Yum! Brands. Sweetgreen Pares 26% Drop as Parasite Tied to Taco Bell Lettuce
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell has already removed the affected shredded lettuce in some states after government warnings, reinforcing concern that the outbreak may disrupt operations and consumer traffic in the near term. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $147.71 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14.

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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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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