Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Position Increased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,191 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $21,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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 worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the third 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 raised its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $3,306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $155.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.65.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. 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 1.82%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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, March 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.79.

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.