Interchange Capital Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Interchange Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,565 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $156.75 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

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.