CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,478 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,239 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.11% of Yum! Brands worth $39,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th 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 stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $143.13 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.18. The company has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a boost 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 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.71.

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.