HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 7,116 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,915 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 7,116 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,306,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, reaching $156.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,071,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,820. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the 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 owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.