Kentucky Trust Co Invests $80,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $146.57 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $148.20. The firm has a market cap of $40.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % 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. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup restated 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. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

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.