Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs Sells 5,139 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $144.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $152.37 and its 200 day moving average is $140.11.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth 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. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.71.

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.