HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 7,116 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 145.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 16,782 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $250,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $116,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 153.1% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $157.23 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $43.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.23.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 44,839 shares of company stock valued at $7,136,292. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, December 31st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands 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.