McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 898 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $120,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’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 value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $146.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.73 and a 200 day moving average of $134.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $148.20.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

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.