Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 870,866 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 141,727 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands comprises about 0.8% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.32% of Yum! Brands worth $135,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,422,000 after acquiring an additional 83,916 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,482.86. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $154.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.81.

About Yum! Brands

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.

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