Arizona State Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 773 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $10,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investment Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,419 shares of company stock worth $6,196,298 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $159.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $161.28.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

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.