IMG Wealth Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,996,000 after acquiring an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,306,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $155.09 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,839 shares of company stock worth $7,136,292 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.