Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE YUM opened at $157.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.46. The stock has a market cap of $43.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

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.