Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Buys 267 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,153 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,821 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 55,799 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 9,414 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $147.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.41. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, March 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.70.

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.