Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 41.9% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $262,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 72,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,063,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 145.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 16,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

YUM stock opened at $155.09 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $141.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.08. The company has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,839 shares of company stock worth $7,136,292 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.