Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,433 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 35,766 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,799,000 after buying an additional 2,846 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 62,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 7,116 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, 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. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $157.13 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.12 and its 200-day moving average is $137.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

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.