Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Purchases 7,757 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 7,757 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 219.4% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $173.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.38.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total transaction of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 64 shares in the company, valued at $9,559.68. This represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,292. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,146 shares of company stock valued at $5,699,770. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $150.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

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.