Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,555,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 33,501 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.55% of Yum! Brands worth $203,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, DB Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $137.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $138.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.95.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,454 shares of company stock worth $2,802,120. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.53.

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.