Westpac Banking Corp Sells 13,243 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 32.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 13,243 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $5,335,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 13,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.2% during the first quarter. DJE Kapital AG now owns 34,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,290,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 39,947 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 4,361 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands announced Nai De Leon will become Chief People & Culture Officer effective November 1, 2026, a move that adds a new senior leader and may support long-term organizational execution. Yum! Brands Appoints Nai De Leon as Chief People & Culture Officer
• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands said a positive cyclospora test on Taylor Farms lettuce was a false positive, which could ease some concerns if confirmed and help reduce the risk of further reputational damage. Market Chatter: Yum! Brands Says Positive Cyclospora Test on Taylor Farms Lettuce was False Positive
• Neutral Sentiment: ThaiBev is exploring a sale of its KFC franchise business in Thailand, but the report does not suggest an immediate change to Yum! Brands’ operations or financial outlook. ThaiBev Weighs Sale of Thailand’s Largest KFC Franchise With 500+ Restaurants
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg and other reports said Taco Bell traffic fell sharply after lettuce was tied to a parasite outbreak, raising concern that the issue could hurt same-store sales and damage Yum! Brands’ near-term performance. Taco Bell Traffic Sinks After Lettuce Tied to Parasite Outbreak
• Negative Sentiment: Another report said Taco Bell visits dropped 19% after the lettuce-linked outbreak, reinforcing fears that the health scare is already weighing on restaurant demand. Taco Bell visits drop 19% after lettuce parasite outbreak
• Negative Sentiment: Technical commentary warned that Yum! Brands may be nearing a bearish “death cross,” which can add to selling pressure when sentiment is already weak. QUICK SPARK: Yum! Brands May Soon Serve Traders a Death Cross

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on YUM. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $147.10 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $40.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.82.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.