Westpac Banking Corp Acquires 3,710 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Westpac Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,021,194,000 after acquiring an additional 163,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $418,692,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $225,025,000 after buying an additional 44,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value 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 approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.16. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

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.