Brighton Jones LLC Acquires 3,197 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 78.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,197 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,866 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 96,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,600,000 after acquiring an additional 44,515 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $135.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.30 and a 200-day moving average of $131.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 5th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.75.

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.