Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $14.93 Million Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 856,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,939,000 after buying an additional 14,068 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 277,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,833,000 after buying an additional 16,813 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,326.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $133.41 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.81. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $37.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.