Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,460,580 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 163,781 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned 5.54% of Yum! Brands worth $2,074,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,021,194,000 after purchasing an additional 163,462 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $418,692,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $338,296,000 after buying an additional 24,681 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $306,444,000 after acquiring an additional 244,264 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.62.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $146.12. The company had a trading volume of 788,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,678. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $152.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. 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 represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.