Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs Sells 30,604 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $159.81 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $161.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.65.

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.