Quantitative Investment Management LLC Acquires 16,593 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Quantitative Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1,019.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 16,593 shares during the quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 695,059 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,649,000 after purchasing an additional 8,888 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $197,013,000 after purchasing an additional 703,891 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 347,395 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $52,804,000 after purchasing an additional 57,112 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,382,000 after buying an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after buying an additional 11,532 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $47,149.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $158.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $158.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.75.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yum reported strong Q4 results, rising operating profit and system momentum with ~4,500 new restaurant openings globally — evidence the franchise-led model is scaling and supporting revenue and margin guidance. Did Yum!’s Q4 Beat and 4,500 New Openings Just Shift Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Investment Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut rolled out the “Hut Crust” platform and a $10 large three‑topping promotion (first recipe update in over a decade) to drive traffic and AUV lift for the Pizza Hut brand. Product refreshes like this can help close the gap with competitors on value and relevance. PIZZA HUT LAUNCHES HUT CRUST PLATFORM FOR CRUST LOVERS & SETS OUT TO HIRE FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND HUT CRUST CONNOISSEUR
• Positive Sentiment: KFC (a Yum brand) launched a limited-time “20 Wings for $20” bracket‑season value promotion — a national, high-visibility deal that should boost traffic and basket sizes during a key hosting period. KFC® Turns Up the Heat for Bracket Season with 20 Wings for 20*
• Positive Sentiment: Franchise expansion activity in Europe — e.g., Collins Foods acquiring KFC outlets in Germany — signals continued third‑party investment in the KFC model and incremental international growth for Yum’s ecosystem. Collins Foods to acquire eight KFC outlets in Germany
• Neutral Sentiment: Domino’s is reporting strong same-store sales momentum driven by digital orders, value deals and global expansion — competitive strength at DPZ could pressure Pizza Hut and category share, but also signals robust pizza demand overall. Can Domino’s Same-Store Sales Strength Support Retail Growth in 2026?
• Neutral Sentiment: Papa John’s continues to invest in digital and loyalty to drive repeat orders — a competitive initiative that matters regionally but is not an immediate threat to Yum’s scale. Can Papa John’s Digital Investments & Loyalty Expansion Drive Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports of takeover interest in Papa John’s and related market moves lift volatility across the pizza peer group but are indirect for Yum; useful for industry comps and M&A sentiment. Papa John’s Stock Jumps on Reported Takeover Bid
• Negative Sentiment: Analysis pieces flag Yum! as underperforming the Dow in recent stretches, which could weigh on sentiment and limit near‑term multiple expansion despite operational wins. Is Yum! Brands Stock Underperforming the Dow?

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.