Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 38,818 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 140.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,818 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 121.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,819,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $227,367,000 after buying an additional 999,443 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,208,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $150,945,000 after buying an additional 533,321 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 129.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 769,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $96,147,000 after buying an additional 434,284 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $36,663,000. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $720,485,000 after buying an additional 210,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on YUM. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $140.10 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $137.56 and its 200 day moving average is $130.54.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.