Schroder Investment Management Group Lowers Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 142,555 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 24,142 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $19,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $418,692,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 255,495 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $30,098,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.70.

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Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's 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 $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 8.6 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded down $13.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,704,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,248. 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 $149.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.32. The company has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Yum! Brands 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.