Sachetta LLC Has $33,000 Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Sachetta LLC cut its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 94.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,564 shares during the quarter. Sachetta LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $33,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,665 shares of company stock worth $2,374,563 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.63.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.06.

Key Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and margin upside — Yum reported Q1 EPS of $1.50 (above estimates) with revenue up ~15% and a large profit jump; digital sales reached a record (~63% of system sales), supporting better-than-expected fundamentals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell strength and improving visibility — Analysts (Morgan Stanley coverage cited) highlight Taco Bell’s continued comp strength and loyalty/digital engagement gains as drivers of near-term visibility and growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC global expansion and delivery gains — Management and industry write-ups point to KFC fueling international growth, helping the company’s top-line and margin mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target moves are modestly supportive but ratings remain conservative — Citi and Wells Fargo raised price targets slightly but maintain neutral/equal-weight ratings, limiting immediate bullish catalyst strength. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales executed under 10b5?1 plans — CEO Scott Mezvinsky and CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold shares (pre-arranged plans); such filings can create near-term selling pressure but are less informative about company fundamentals. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Pizza Hut lagging — Coverage highlights Pizza Hut’s continued underperformance, which can blunt overall company upside and keep investors cautious until a clearer turnaround is visible. Read More.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.