Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes $3.53 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 26,338 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,534,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded down $1.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $156.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,071,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,887,430. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $143.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.85. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month 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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.79.

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.