Larson Financial Group LLC Has $440,000 Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,324 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 268.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,914 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,555,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $203,178,000 after buying an additional 33,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 564,171 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $73,715,000 after buying an additional 12,847 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total value of $1,134,562.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,818.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 29,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,818.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $134.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.89. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.