Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:YUM traded up $3.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $161.46. 2,615,254 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,023. The firm has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock's 50-day moving average is $149.76 and its 200-day moving average is $139.32.

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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 paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.70.

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.