TIAA Trust National Association Trims Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

TIAA Trust National Association lessened its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $157.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.46. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

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.