T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $1.46 Billion Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 10.6%, owning approximately 9.28 million shares after selling 1.1 million shares during the first quarter.
• Yum! Brands reported an EPS of $1.44 for the last quarter, missing analysts' estimates of $1.46, despite a revenue increase of 9.6% year-over-year.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Yum! Brands, with expectations ranging from $156 to $185, indicating a generally positive outlook with a consensus rating of "Hold".

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,277,550 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,096,817 shares during the period. Yum! Brands makes up about 1.0% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.34% of Yum! Brands worth $1,459,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after buying an additional 483,918 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,045,475 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $274,421,000 after purchasing an additional 258,369 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,954,145 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $307,504,000 after purchasing an additional 27,355 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,700,298 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $267,559,000 after purchasing an additional 23,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,284 shares of company stock worth $4,310,663 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE YUM traded down $0.2870 on Friday, reaching $147.7230. The company had a trading volume of 1,995,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,270,952. The stock's 50 day moving average is $146.12 and its 200-day moving average is $148.05. The stock has a market cap of $41.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.23.

About Yum! Brands

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.