Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 249 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,163 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 153.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 2,429 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 7,112 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $156.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.85. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. 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 is 54.41%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company 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.