Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs Sells 5,293 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.0 %

Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.20. The stock had a trading volume of 397,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,883,232. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.09, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 145.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 16,782 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $250,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $116,770,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 2,429 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.