Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Cullinan Associates Inc.

Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,362 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,058,156,000 after buying an additional 373,232 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,914,257,000 after acquiring an additional 678,659 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $331,831,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,592,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $208,045,000 after purchasing an additional 570,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,555,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $203,178,000 after purchasing an additional 33,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.61. The company had a trading volume of 573,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,988,855. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.51 and its 200 day moving average is $135.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.60 billion during 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 company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. 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. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.33.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands 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.