Vanguard Group Inc. Has $5.31 Billion Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its position by 0.4% in Q4 to hold 35,098,553 shares (about 12.64% of Yum!) valued at roughly $5.31 billion after selling 144,005 shares.
• Company insiders have been selling recently: CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares (≈$1.94M) on Feb. 5, and insiders overall sold 14,138 shares worth about $2.29M in the last 90 days.
• Yum! holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $173.95 (12 Buys, 9 Holds); the firm posted a slight EPS miss ($1.73 vs. $1.76) with revenue up 6.4% and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (annualized $3.00, yield 1.9%).

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,098,553 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 144,005 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.64% of Yum! Brands worth $5,309,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 679.2% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 833.3% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $171.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.95.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $160.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.28. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $42.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 54.05%.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding YUM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.