Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Keybank National Association OH

Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,419 shares of company stock worth $6,196,298. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $159.81 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.21. The stock has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $161.28.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change 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 1.78%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

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.