Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 94,355 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 151.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,355 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $24,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.5% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 115,881 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,235,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Ballew Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $317,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $396,000. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $217,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $138.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.35. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $22,984,484.01. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total transaction of $39,119.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,177.35. This trade represents a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,470 shares of company stock worth $1,821,172 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands 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.