West Tower Group LLC Makes New $416,000 Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 145.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 16,782 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,817,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $116,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 153.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $309,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.75. 3,071,625 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,887,430. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $143.99 and its 200 day moving average is $137.85. The company has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.