Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stock Holdings Increased by Dakota Wealth Management

Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 89.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 833.3% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.4%

YUM stock opened at $154.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The business 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 company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid 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 currently 54.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Gordon Haskett raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

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.