Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 20,966 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 20,966 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Yum! Brands worth $96,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $135.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.70 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.64.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,319 shares of company stock valued at $2,063,221. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

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.