Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $130.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 173,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,925,507. The company has a 50 day moving average of $132.76 and a 200-day moving average of $133.55. The stock has a market cap of $36.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % 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. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.