California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 69,703 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,266,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,703 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $165,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 144.0% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,173 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 13,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,771,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.27. The company had a trading volume of 307,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,145. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.39. The stock has a market cap of $39.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.