DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 19,148 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 411,578 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 19,148 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS owned about 0.15% of Yum! Brands worth $55,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $1.28 on Monday, hitting $157.04. 2,199,977 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,959,796. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

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Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 90 days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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, March 5th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.79.

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.