Rathbones Group PLC Decreases Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Rathbones Group PLC lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,025 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $42,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 455.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,977,000 after buying an additional 11,601 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.2% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,727 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 131,779 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $18,411,000 after acquiring an additional 39,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 35,519 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,962,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.24.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:YUM traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $145.83. The company had a trading volume of 886,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,232. The firm has a market cap of $40.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $152.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.04. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 1.95%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio 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.