Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 30.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $155.72 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.61. The company has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on YUM shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Company 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.