Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 56.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,896 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,499 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $18,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,596,000 after acquiring an additional 198,069 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,752,000 after acquiring an additional 16,124 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $381,000. Finally, Adviser Investments LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.0 %

YUM stock opened at $137.84 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.24. The company has a market capitalization of $38.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.94%.

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.