Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $247,000 Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Yum! Brands by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 72,830 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,771,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares in the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $1,823,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $154.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $154.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.23.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

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.