Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $153.91 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $155.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.