HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Buys 69 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,346,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $155.09 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $141.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.05. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands 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.