Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,959 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $30,098,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,792,000 after acquiring an additional 144,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $155.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.61. The stock has a market cap of $43.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost 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 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.