Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Holdings Reduced by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,178,530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 25,966 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $158,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $158.96 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.03. The stock has a market cap of $44.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

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 given a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

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.