Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,204 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,363 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,586 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 31,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $443,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,211,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,515 shares of company stock valued at $4,620,080. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE YUM traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,818,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,881,942. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.33.

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.