Magellan Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,064,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 120,434 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands accounts for 3.0% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.74% of Yum! Brands worth $277,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $418,692,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $30,098,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of YUM opened at $158.13 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.16. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

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.