Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Posted by Brian Himes on Sep 10th, 2026

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM – Free Report) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,384 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after acquiring an additional 10,755 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,054.48. This trade represents a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $145.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $152.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.20. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.49 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 37.74%.

About Yum! Brands

(Free Report)

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.