Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 3,120,839 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,120,839 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $418,692,000. Norges Bank owned 1.12% of Yum! Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $225,025,000 after acquiring an additional 44,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $95,792,000 after acquiring an additional 144,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE YUM traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $157.04. 3,510,584 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,959,951. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. UBS Group lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.