Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Holdings Increased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 163,462 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.72% of Yum! Brands worth $1,021,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 202,207 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,131,000 after acquiring an additional 70,428 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 97.5% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 15,655 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 7,729 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 160,790 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $21,572,000 after purchasing an additional 29,932 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 20,322 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 4,998 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 8.6 %

YUM stock traded down $13.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $147.52. 4,704,337 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,968,248. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $150.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.41.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. 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 research note on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.70.

About Yum! Brands

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.