Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,867 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,816 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments' holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $154.41 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.79.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.42.

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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.

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