Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Position Boosted by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,735 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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 lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $148.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

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.