Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 49.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,282 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,262 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.42.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $156.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $43.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.