Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 352,400 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 10,526 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Yum! Brands worth $49,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 41.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,296 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 2,438 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,022 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,221,000 after buying an additional 7,042 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,892 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,686 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,947,485.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,622 shares of company stock valued at $4,172,740. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $136.62. 1,741,216 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,948,339. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.70 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.94.

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.