Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 57,423 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 20.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 334,984 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 57,423 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $46,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,058,156,000 after purchasing an additional 373,232 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,914,257,000 after purchasing an additional 678,659 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,939,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $823,534,000 after buying an additional 121,285 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $331,831,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 36.6% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,174,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $301,498,000 after acquiring an additional 582,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total transaction of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,160,066.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,552,727. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

YUM stock traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.46. 376,841 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,979,440. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $35.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $134.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.93.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Evercore ISI cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.31.

About Yum! Brands

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.