Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $155.09 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day moving average is $137.07.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.