246 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Purchased by Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC

Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.32.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $156.43 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $136.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $156.56.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.