Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 71.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,845 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 62,308 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

YUM opened at $155.72 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $147.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.65.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.79.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.