FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes $1.87 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $150.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $134.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $151.29.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

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.