Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 63,225 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 15,463 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after acquiring an additional 255,495 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,867,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 227.5% in the 4th quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $154.33 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $135.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $154.79.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.