Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP Trims Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,170 shares during the period. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $199,511,000 after acquiring an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $116,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 696,714 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $93,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,083 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $148.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.90 and a 200-day moving average of $134.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

About Yum! Brands

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.