Capital International Inc. CA Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Capital International Inc. CA grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,123 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 46,149 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA owned approximately 0.11% of Yum! Brands worth $42,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YUM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,021,194,000 after acquiring an additional 163,462 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $418,692,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $338,296,000 after purchasing an additional 24,681 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of YUM stock traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.22. 2,300,985 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,333,786. The stock has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.27.

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 is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $152.62.

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.