Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Holdings Decreased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,726 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,960 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Yum! Brands by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 72,830 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,771,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares in the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $1,823,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in Yum! Brands by 89.4% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 15,770 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,116,000 after acquiring an additional 7,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 73,815 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $148.51 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $151.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $134.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.04. The stock has a market cap of $41.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.