Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 85.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $58,712,000 after acquiring an additional 255,495 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $30,098,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $95,792,000 after acquiring an additional 144,406 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

YUM stock traded down $1.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $155.72. 1,492,564 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,953,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.65. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date 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 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

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

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.