Spinnaker Trust Acquires 480 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Spinnaker Trust raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,988 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $147.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.52.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

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.