Capital World Investors Trims Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Capital World Investors lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,773,241 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,556,478 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned 3.50% of Yum! Brands worth $1,311,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $713,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 128.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 5,134 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 54.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 47,604 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,651,000 after purchasing an additional 16,767 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

Yum! Brands stock traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $146.22. 2,300,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,023,046. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.27. The company has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576. Corporate insiders own 0.33% 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.