Swiss National Bank Sells 7,200 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.9%, selling 7,200 shares, and now holds 787,100 shares valued at approximately $123.86 million.
• Various institutional investors have modified their holdings, with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increasing its stake by 151.4% during the first quarter, now owning 156,690 shares.
• Wall Street analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Yum! Brands, with an average price target of $161.23, despite mixed approaches from different analysts.

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 787,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 7,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of Yum! Brands worth $123,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $338,296,000 after acquiring an additional 24,681 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $306,444,000 after acquiring an additional 244,264 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its position in Yum! Brands by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 43,913 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,983 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,764 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9%

YUM traded down $1.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $141.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,263,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,090,389. The firm has a market cap of $39.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $145.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.12.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Company 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.