43,421 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 43,421 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,156,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $3,415,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Finally, Syon Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,629 shares of company stock worth $13,888,443 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $136.57 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.42.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.