Norinchukin Bank The Raises Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,524 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $418,692,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

YUM stock opened at $143.13 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $152.19 and its 200-day moving average is $140.20. The firm has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost 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 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.