Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Sells 300 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,038 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE YUM opened at $155.82 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $144.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.