Swiss National Bank Sells 41,500 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 794,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 41,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Yum! Brands worth $106,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,825,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,306,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.95.

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Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This 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, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $157.58. 1,455,454 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,882,910. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $142.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.39.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 54.41%.

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.