Raymond James & Associates Buys 7,496 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 356,909 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 7,496 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.13% of Yum! Brands worth $49,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.31.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of YUM traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $134.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,452,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,501. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The company's fifty day moving average price is $138.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.53. The stock has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

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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