Capital Research Global Investors Trims Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Capital Research Global Investors lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,270,443 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 0.46% of Yum! Brands worth $170,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.71.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE YUM opened at $143.13 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.20.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.