Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 5,344 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 94.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,344 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $131.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $133.32 and a 200 day moving average of $135.62. The company has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock worth $13,888,443 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.