Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 408 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,818 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $720,485,000 after purchasing an additional 210,238 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $409,596,000 after acquiring an additional 124,080 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 121.8% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,819,809 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $227,367,000 after acquiring an additional 999,443 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,521,511 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $190,098,000 after acquiring an additional 12,654 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,266,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $165,430,000 after purchasing an additional 69,703 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,373 shares of company stock worth $4,087,920 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE YUM traded up $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $136.21. 129,025 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,988,134. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.92. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $38.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.