Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Invests $24.60 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 162,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $24,599,000. Yum! Brands makes up about 0.6% of Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 3,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,359,304.96. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,053 shares of company stock worth $171,899. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $150.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Barclays set a $185.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.22.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.