California Public Employees Retirement System Has $148.53 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,107,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,045 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.40% of Yum! Brands worth $148,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $418,692,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $225,025,000 after buying an additional 44,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $155.72 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $147.14 and a 200-day moving average of $138.69. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.