ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,784 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $133.12 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $133.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.39. The stock has a market cap of $37.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month 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, 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.25.

About Yum! Brands

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.