Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $158.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.32. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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 1.79%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by 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.