Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,314,413 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 52,290 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.82% of Yum! Brands worth $306,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the 1st 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. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the 1st 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. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,685 shares of company stock valued at $13,910,094. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $134.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $38.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $132.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.82. 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.