Vanguard Group Inc. Has $5.37 Billion Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4%, acquiring an additional 483,918 shares to hold a total of 34,109,219 shares, valued at approximately $5.37 billion.
• Insider trading revealed that CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares for over $1 million, representing a 6.47% decrease in his ownership of Yum! Brands stock.
• Yum! Brands reported $1.44 EPS for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, maintaining a 2.0% yield.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.25% of Yum! Brands worth $5,367,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $475,714,000 after buying an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $338,296,000 after buying an additional 24,681 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 14.5% in 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 buying an additional 258,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in 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 buying an additional 27,355 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,231.40. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,983 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,764. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $141.34. 2,263,240 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,065,120. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $39.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.73. The company's 50 day moving average price is $145.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.84.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

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.