Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160,790 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 29,932 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $21,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 20,322 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 4,998 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,784 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,107,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $148,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $144.97. 3,002,483 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,017,028. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.02. The stock has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.77, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.