Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,812 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third 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. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the fourth 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. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966 shares during the period. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.1% in the third quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after acquiring an additional 5,684 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $148.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $133.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.82.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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, Barclays boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

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.