J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,538 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,440 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $97,453,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 35.9% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,306,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $341,841,000 after acquiring an additional 609,223 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,367,427,000 after acquiring an additional 483,918 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2,288.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 502,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,426,000 after purchasing an additional 481,235 shares during the period. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,352,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total value of $1,074,964.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,413,371.40. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,870 shares of company stock valued at $5,657,495 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $153.21 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on YUM shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.38.

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.