ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 4,025 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,785 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. CNB Bank boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 833.3% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock worth $451,123. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $154.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $157.19 and its 200 day moving average is $155.46.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.22.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.