Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in Q4, buying 30,075 shares to hold 584,953 shares worth $88.03 million (about 0.21% of the company).
• Yum! beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.50 EPS vs. $1.39 expected and $2.06 billion in revenue (up 15.2% year-over-year); the stock trades in the mid-$150s with a market cap near $43.5 billion.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target of $176.22 (12 Buys, 8 Holds); insiders sold 2,665 shares (~$437k) last quarter while institutional investors own roughly 82.37% of the stock.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 30,075 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.21% of Yum! Brands worth $88,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $19,294,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $157.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50-day moving average is $159.21 and its 200 day moving average is $154.88. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday. Barclays set a $185.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.22.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,665 shares of company stock worth $437,283. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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