Ossiam Trims Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ossiam lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 32.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,940 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,749 shares during the quarter. Ossiam's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

YUM traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $147.59. 2,079,206 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,023,729. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $151.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $152.62.

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.