Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 3,219 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,219 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $152.62.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total transaction of $753,891.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of YUM opened at $147.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

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.

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