Cypress Capital Group Has $480,000 Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cypress Capital Group lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,577 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,197 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,712,000 after purchasing an additional 255,495 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,098,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,403,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $159.53 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $161.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $137.81 and a 200-day moving average of $136.04.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. 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. Yum! Brands’s dividend 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.