Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,555 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 24,142 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $19,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in 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 lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $3,306,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on YUM. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

YUM stock opened at $158.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.16.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

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.