5,861 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Acquired by Kelman Lazarov Inc.

Kelman Lazarov Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9%

YUM stock opened at $146.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $153.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.02. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $41,044.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,971.45. This represents a 35.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

About Yum! Brands

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.