Modera Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 266 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

YUM stock opened at $158.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.32 and a 200-day moving average of $135.88. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $164.08. The company has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.32.

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.