Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes $281,000 Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,096 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 947.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 19,737 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,648,000 after purchasing an additional 17,852 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 121,945 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,360,000 after buying an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $416,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 50,273 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,745,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $3,534,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $155.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,836,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,539. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.18.

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Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.79.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.