Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 266 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after buying an additional 178,612 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,708,000 after buying an additional 147,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 624.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,158,000 after buying an additional 91,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,865,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $148.51 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $134.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $151.29. The firm has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.