Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 5,344 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,344 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, 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 worth $13,888,443 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $131.03 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.62. The company has a market capitalization of $36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 2.06 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.