David W. Gibbs Sells 5,293 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $157.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $142.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.39. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $43.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 145.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 16,782 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $250,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,817,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $116,770,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.