State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 2,561 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lowered its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,030 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,561 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during 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 position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $147.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,218,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,884. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $151.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $41.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $153.81.

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.