PDS Planning Inc Has $214,000 Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

PDS Planning Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,598 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the company’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 transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $157.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.53. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.