Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 49,556 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 656,791 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 49,556 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $88,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after acquiring an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,306,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised 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 worth $14,825,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Fifteen equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $157.04 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.85. The company has a market cap of $43.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 1.81%. 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.