Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Holdings Decreased by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,585 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,021,194,000 after purchasing an additional 163,462 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $418,692,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $338,296,000 after buying an additional 24,681 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.71.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $143.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.18. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio 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.