Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 44,428 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,428 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Yum! Brands worth $225,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,704 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,306,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $159.81 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $161.28. The company has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.21.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,419 shares of company stock valued at $6,196,298. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised 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. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.65.

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.