Gallacher Capital Management LLC Sells 166 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 166 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up about 2.9% of Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $3,306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $155.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30.

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 issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

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.