PDS Planning Inc Acquires 320 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total value of $39,119.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,177.35. This represents a 13.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total value of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,984,484.01. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,470 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,172 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.86.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.51 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

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.