Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Position Increased by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,982 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 3,203 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $418,692,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $58,712,000 after acquiring an additional 255,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 note on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.71.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $143.13. 1,768,214 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,021,870. The firm has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $152.19 and a 200 day moving average of $140.18. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

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 is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio 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.