Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 117,959 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,099 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $16,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,127,000 after buying an additional 6,537 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $199,511,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,243,000 after buying an additional 58,437 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $116,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3 %

YUM opened at $138.94 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.70 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $38.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

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.