Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 12,077 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its Yum! Brands stake by 7.2% in the first quarter, selling 12,077 shares and leaving it with 155,347 shares valued at about $24.15 million.
• Analysts remain constructive on YUM overall, with 12 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings; the stock carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.
• Yum! Brands also reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and its board approved a $4 billion share buyback alongside a quarterly dividend that implies a 1.9% yield.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,347 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 12,077 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $24,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,471,127 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $676,392,000 after purchasing an additional 104,512 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. 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 research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.12.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $161.46 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $153.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.29. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The company has a market capitalization of $44.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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