Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $59.29 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 441,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $59,289,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after acquiring an additional 255,495 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $30,098,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $14,403,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $157.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.52. 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 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. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.42.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’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 transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.