Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.53 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,380 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 769 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 102.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,724 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company’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 value of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $156.70 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $139.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.67. The company has a market capitalization of $43.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02, a PEG 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.42.

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.