Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Infusive Asset Management Inc.

Infusive Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,746 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 23,673 shares during the period. Infusive Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $418,692,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $338,296,000 after acquiring an additional 24,681 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $306,444,000 after purchasing an additional 244,264 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total transaction of $753,891.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,162,903.10. This represents a 3.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $143.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.15. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.71.

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.