Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 8,704 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,830 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $148.51 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $134.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $151.29. The firm has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.