Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by 44 Wealth Management LLC

44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,746 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $148.51 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $151.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $134.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. 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 dividend yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.