Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 49,556 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 656,791 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 49,556 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.24% of Yum! Brands worth $88,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $418,692,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $225,025,000 after buying an additional 44,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,585,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,955,754. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.16. The firm has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.79.

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.