Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 257 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the 4th 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 period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $30,098,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $95,792,000 after buying an additional 144,406 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $158.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $145.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.32.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.79.

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.