BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. Reduces Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 505 shares during the quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 2.1 %

YUM opened at $162.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.38.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.42.

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.