Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,030 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 5,499 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $17,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,180 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 62,915 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 7,116 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,259 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 102,279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.7%

YUM stock opened at $149.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $145.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.77.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $162.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $157.86.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,742 shares of company stock worth $1,861,504. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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