Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,431 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 736 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $21,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $3,415,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 333,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $156.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.56.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $133.35 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $135.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.27. The company has a market cap of $37.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.28 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly 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. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.08%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,673 shares of company stock valued at $13,918,095 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.