Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,418,344 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 104,399 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up 0.9% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Yum! Brands worth $190,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $418,692,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of YUM stock traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $146.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,300,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,023,514. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.00 and a 200-day moving average of $140.27. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

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 given 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 was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $152.62.

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.