Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 6,571 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,917 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $17,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $148.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,354,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,192,754. The stock has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $149.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Argus raised 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. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $147.37.

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.