Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 50.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 108,860 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 109,376 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,022,648,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607,517 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,883 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $331,831,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $200,668,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Yum! Brands by 10.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,033,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $135.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,556,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,838. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.85. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

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

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.