Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Reduces Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lowered its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 19,801 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,792,000 after purchasing an additional 144,406 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,147,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 22,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,989,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $154.41 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.42.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.