New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 257,455 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $34,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.9 %

YUM stock opened at $151.08 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $151.29. The company has a market capitalization of $42.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.93.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Yum! Brands 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.