Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Platinum Investment Management sharply reduced its Yum! Brands stake by 90.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 394,437 shares and leaving it with 39,847 shares worth about $6.0 million.
• Yum! Brands reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 versus the $1.39 estimate and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 15.2% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, and analysts currently maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $176.12.

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 90.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,847 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 394,437 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands accounts for about 1.4% of Platinum Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $706,799,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $126,945,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,356,869,000 after buying an additional 684,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $154.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $154.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

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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