Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 568 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,378 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 568 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investment Partners LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $155.09 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 market cap of $43.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.07.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % 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, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.95.

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.