KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $13.18 Million Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 98,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $13,181,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $156.75 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.88.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

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.