Secured Retirement Advisors LLC Takes $1.44 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,443,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Melius began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM traded up $1.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $146.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,332,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,667. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $145.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.85. The company has a market cap of $40.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $260,231.40. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands 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.