Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 356.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 163,052 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 127,326 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $25,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,795.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $121,137,000 after acquiring an additional 764,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,944,000. Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 602.1% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,946,000 after buying an additional 312,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,195,586 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $160,400,000 after buying an additional 273,547 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $145.41 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $145.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.86.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,231.40. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965 in the last quarter. 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.