Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Acquired by Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 159.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,039 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 679.2% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its position in Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Gordon Haskett raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $160.12 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.96 and a 200-day moving average of $151.51.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,840,607.94. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock worth $2,289,990. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.