Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases 138 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after purchasing an additional 178,612 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after acquiring an additional 147,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 624.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,158,000 after acquiring an additional 91,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 80.9% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,865,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of YUM opened at $154.33 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $154.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $135.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.23. The firm has a market cap of $43.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. TD Securities raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.