Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 373,232 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.32% of Yum! Brands worth $3,058,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Willner & Heller LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 43,793 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,722,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, Syon Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,454 shares of company stock worth $3,656,748. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE YUM traded up $0.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $136.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,297,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,932,673. The company has a market capitalization of $38.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $138.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business's revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands 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.