Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 121,945 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,042 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $16,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $416,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 50,273 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,534,000. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $156.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.85. 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

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.