Trajan Wealth LLC Takes $8.41 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Trajan Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 52,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $8,414,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after acquiring an additional 124,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after acquiring an additional 121,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $706,799,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $153.48 and its 200-day moving average is $155.97.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company 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.