Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 6,932 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired 6,932 Yum! Brands shares worth approximately $1.11 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, exceeding estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The board also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.
• Shares opened at $148.21, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $174.31, while insiders have sold 18,549 shares worth about $2.89 million over the past three months.

Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,932 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,108,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after acquiring an additional 124,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,334,427,000 after acquiring an additional 121,304 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $706,799,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.4% in 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. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% 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 three months, insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $148.21 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $153.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.22. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14. The company has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.31.

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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