AQR Capital Management LLC Has $8.52 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

AQR Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 47.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 57,356 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $3,415,000. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $268,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $7,645,000. Syon Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after acquiring an additional 73,844 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value 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 90 days, insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $139.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.40.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands 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.