Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake 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 worth $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.1% in the third quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 5,684 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, 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 has a fifty day moving average of $132.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.