ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $19.86 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,064 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 12,814 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $19,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,445,000 after acquiring an additional 178,612 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 147,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.3 %

YUM stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.64. 2,092,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,968,535. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The stock's fifty day moving average is $133.62 and its 200-day moving average is $133.63. The company has a market cap of $35.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on YUM. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.47.

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.