Raymond James Trust N.A. Has $1.41 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Raymond James Trust N.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 415 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $135.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,657,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,903,975. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.79. The firm has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 47.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Company 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.