Fernwood Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,350 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $141.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $150.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.71. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Barclays lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.24.

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.