Pavion Blue Capital LLC Sells 208 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Pavion Blue Capital LLC lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,657 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up approximately 2.4% of Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $199,511,000 after purchasing an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $116,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 696,714 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $93,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on YUM. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of YUM opened at $148.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $134.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $151.29.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

About Yum! Brands

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.