Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Sells 226 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc cut its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966 shares during the period. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 5,684 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $148.51 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $151.29. The stock has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $134.35 and its 200-day moving average is $135.02.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

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.