Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $3.68 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,171 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 121.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,819,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $227,367,000 after buying an additional 999,443 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,208,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $150,945,000 after acquiring an additional 533,321 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 129.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 769,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,147,000 after purchasing an additional 434,284 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $36,663,000. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $720,485,000 after purchasing an additional 210,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of YUM opened at $139.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.