Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys 82 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $133.65 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $133.02 and a 200 day moving average of $135.75. The stock has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,624 shares of company stock valued at $12,946,761. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.