Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $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 during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.42.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $154.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.79.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 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.