Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 559,718 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 8,661 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.20% of Yum! Brands worth $75,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $147.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 520,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,165,749. The company has a market capitalization of $41.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $133.67 and a 200 day moving average of $134.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $149.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.