Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,661 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 2,054 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 20,014 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,685,000 after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 890 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 127,209 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,066,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.83 on Thursday, hitting $146.99. 462,649 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,016,965. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $151.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.31. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Yum! Brands's dividend 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 the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value 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. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.