Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 51.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,588 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 11,254 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of YUM stock traded down $2.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $154.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,631,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,887. The company has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.67.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.42.

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.