Achmea Investment Management B.V. Purchases 2,846 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,766 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,846 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1 %

YUM stock opened at $155.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.05. The company has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

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. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on YUM. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

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.