abrdn plc Increases Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 68.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 117,966 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 47,875 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $15,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 107,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,573 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,101 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Eukles Asset Management boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 20,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $141.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.71 and a 200 day moving average of $130.61.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer upgraded Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.75.

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.