Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Position Lifted by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 102,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $157.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $142.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.39. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.