Larson Financial Group LLC Buys 545 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 42.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,816 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, DB Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $141.81 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.71 and a 200-day moving average of $130.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was 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 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 at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.