Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 974 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $656,000. Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 3,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,544 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $133.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.59. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.70 and a 52-week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,319 shares of company stock valued at $2,063,221 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.