Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Acquired by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 86.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,072 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,201 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $97,453,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $5,367,427,000 after acquiring an additional 483,918 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 481,235 shares during the period. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $64,352,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 28.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,940,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $305,286,000 after purchasing an additional 430,511 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $148.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $41.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $146.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.25.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Melius began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.81, for a total value of $261,161.55. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,112 shares of company stock valued at $4,760,814. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.