Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $17.25 Million Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,617 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 11,459 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $17,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $38,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9%

YUM traded up $1.26 on Friday, hitting $145.41. 1,930,682 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,127,953. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.12.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,720 shares of company stock worth $2,150,965. 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.