Marshall Wace LLP Invests $7.65 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 57,717 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $7,645,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 62,200.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 296.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 123,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,082,000 after buying an additional 92,030 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,573 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 443,501 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,948,000 after buying an additional 5,569 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group began 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.25.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock worth $13,888,443. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $139.67 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $134.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.