Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys 186 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $30,098,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $14,403,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $137.32 and its 200 day moving average is $135.88. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $164.08.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on YUM. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.32.

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.