Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 726 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’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 value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $147.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.64.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

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.