Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $418,692,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $225,025,000 after buying an additional 44,428 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.70.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $147.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $150.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.41. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

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.