GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Purchases 112 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,153,000. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 8,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,970 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $157.23 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.23. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Securities upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped 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, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,839 shares of company stock worth $7,136,292 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% 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.