National Pension Service Has $55.72 Million Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 36.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 415,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 242,634 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $55,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 255,495 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 624.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,158,000 after purchasing an additional 91,367 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $21,865,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $153.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $135.91 and a 200-day moving average of $135.47. The company has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $155.18.

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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 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.