American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 31,041 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 93,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,041 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.7% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PGIM Custom Harvest LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This trade represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,146 shares of company stock worth $5,699,770. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on YUM shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.38.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $148.46 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.60. The company has a market cap of $41.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 55.36%.

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.