Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Purchased by Coldstream Capital Management Inc.

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 98.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 9,325 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the third 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. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $155.24 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.79 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 2,890 shares of company stock worth $451,123 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.22.

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.