Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 25,966 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,178,530 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 25,966 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.42% of Yum! Brands worth $158,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $418,692,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th 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. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $30,098,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $816,392.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 8.6 %

Shares of YUM traded down $13.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.52. 4,704,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,969,178. The company has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.46.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 54.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Barclays increased their target price 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. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.70.

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.