Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,093 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM traded down $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $133.87. 1,930,128 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,752. The company has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $132.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.89.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock valued at $13,910,094. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.