Plancorp LLC Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Plancorp LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,726 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after purchasing an additional 255,495 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,098,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $95,792,000 after purchasing an additional 144,406 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $156.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.85.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.