Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,929 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 valued at $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.32.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $156.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $156.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.62.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given 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 is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.