Aviva PLC Sells 130,685 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Aviva PLC decreased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 43.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 169,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 130,685 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $22,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $14,172,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,064,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $277,005,000 after buying an additional 120,434 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 47,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $147.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.52.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $816,392.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. This 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 worth $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.70.

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.