Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,678 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $331,831,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 121.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,819,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $227,367,000 after buying an additional 999,443 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,208,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $150,945,000 after buying an additional 533,321 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 129.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 769,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,147,000 after purchasing an additional 434,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,663,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,521 shares of company stock worth $4,620,263 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of YUM stock traded down $2.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $137.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,621,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,525. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $38.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.