224,346 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Bought by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 224,346 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $30,098,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.6 %

YUM stock opened at $153.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.47. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $155.18.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

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.