Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Syon Capital LLC

Syon Capital LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,591 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $147.59 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $151.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.39.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,162,903.10. This represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.