Level Four Advisory Services LLC Acquires 1,393 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 68.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,421 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $552,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 39,704 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,244,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 466.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,867,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $774,951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831,505 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Finally, Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 105,392 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,920,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $179.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $139.00 to $138.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.11.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $127.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $35.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $132.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.26. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $103.96 and a one year high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.31% and a negative return on equity of 16.16%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 29th were paid a $0.605 dividend. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 28th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.27, for a total transaction of $686,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,203,458.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.27, for a total value of $686,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,203,458.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.81, for a total value of $520,096.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,727,983.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,067 shares of company stock valued at $1,912,510 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through four segments: the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division. It 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.