Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Sells 17,350 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 95.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 778 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 17,350 shares during the quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,127,000 after buying an additional 6,537 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $199,511,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $116,770,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

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

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $148.06 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $148.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $132.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

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.