Cypress Capital Group Sells 1,197 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cypress Capital Group decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,577 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,197 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $30,098,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $14,403,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Securities lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $159.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $137.81 and its 200-day moving average is $136.04. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $161.28.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This 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. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.