Blue Trust Inc. Buys 1,177 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,177 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew 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 buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $147.80 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $149.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.