Creative Planning Raises Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Creative Planning increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,803 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $12,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total value of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,818.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $139.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.37. The company has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.