8,206 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Acquired by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,206 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 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 target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $156.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $143.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.85. The stock has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.