Savant Capital LLC Has $1.85 Million Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $135.02 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $138.25 and a 200-day moving average of $131.42. The stock has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.44.

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.