Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $3,415,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 9.4% in the first quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 77,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,678,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullinan Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 48,362 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,705,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $129.52. 935,807 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,127,605. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.10. The company has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total transaction of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company 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.