Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,846,946 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 129,079 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 1.38% of Yum! Brands worth $516,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $3,306,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,825,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $155.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 754,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,136,692. The company has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $147.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.69.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.82%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

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.