Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,518 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after purchasing an additional 178,612 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,708,000 after buying an additional 147,180 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 80.9% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,865,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 907.3% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 76,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,252,000 after acquiring an additional 68,830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of YUM opened at $146.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $148.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $132.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.08.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

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.