Insider Selling: Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $816,392.32 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $157.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.67.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $3,306,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.