Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 2,902 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 117.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,363 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 2,902 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 441 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.08. The stock had a trading volume of 813,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,322. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $132.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.