Horizon Investments LLC Purchases 179 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $157.58 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.53. The firm has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

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.