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

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after buying an additional 5,607,517 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,512,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,883 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,033,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,813 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 34.1% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,681,933 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,200,000 after purchasing an additional 427,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. 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 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 4.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. This represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,319 shares of company stock worth $2,063,221 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of YUM opened at $133.59 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $134.42 and its 200 day moving average is $134.59.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

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.