Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Sustainable Growth Advisers LP

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,579,115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 923,550 shares during the period. Yum! Brands makes up about 3.8% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $748,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.42.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $154.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.79.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 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 dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.