Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 436.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $37,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $149.21 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.99.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on YUM shares. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands 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.