B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Purchases Shares of 29,214 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 29,214 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,081,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,681,933 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,200,000 after buying an additional 427,487 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $199,511,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,243,000 after acquiring an additional 58,437 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $116,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $132.88 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.40 and a 200-day moving average of $134.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a PEG 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.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.