Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Makes New $441,000 Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $133.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $134.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.28 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total transaction of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,818.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.