Argent Advisors Inc. Has $491,000 Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Argent Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,660 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 145.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,953,000 after buying an additional 16,782 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $250,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $116,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 153.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $157.23 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.23. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 54.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of Yum! Brands 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,839 shares of company stock valued at $7,136,292. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target 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. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

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.