Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 49.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $162.67 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.84 and a 200-day moving average of $136.39. The company has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.42.

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.