Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,341 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,629 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,016 shares of company stock worth $6,291,263. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUM. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fourteen research 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.65.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $3.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $162.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,410,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,908,051. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $138.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.21. The company has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 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.