Plancorp LLC Acquires 472 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,726 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in 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. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.0% in 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. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.9% in 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. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $156.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $143.99 and a 200 day moving average of $137.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.