1,592 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Acquired by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $720,485,000 after purchasing an additional 210,238 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $409,596,000 after acquiring an additional 124,080 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 121.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,819,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $227,367,000 after acquiring an additional 999,443 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,521,511 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $190,098,000 after acquiring an additional 12,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,266,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $165,430,000 after acquiring an additional 69,703 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM traded down $0.62 on Thursday, reaching $141.19. The stock had a trading volume of 410,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,916,645. The company has a market cap of $39.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results 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). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.