Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank trimmed its holding in Yum! Brands by 5%, selling 41,800 shares and leaving it with 801,300 shares (about 0.29% ownership) valued at roughly $121.8 million at quarter-end.
• Insiders have been net sellers: Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares (a 45.03% reduction in his stake) and insiders disposed of 14,138 shares worth $2.29 million over the past 90 days, leaving insiders with about 0.33% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment and shareholder return: Yum! has a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $174.50 price target, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 ($3.00 annualized, ~1.9% yield).

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 801,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 41,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of Yum! Brands worth $121,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. CNB Bank grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of Yum! Brands 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $159.28 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The firm's 50 day moving average is $158.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders 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 is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend 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.

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