Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 7,686 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,993 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 7,686 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,319,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,002,811. The firm has a market cap of $36.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $137.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.09. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20.

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

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 47.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Eleven 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $144.33.

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.