Trajan Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 52,631 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Trajan Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 52,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $8,414,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474. This represents a 99.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.9%

YUM stock opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.97. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Yum! Brands

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.