Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after buying an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 769 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 41.9% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.42.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $154.41 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $140.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.79.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

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.