Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Holdings Lessened by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,660 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 145.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 16,782 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $116,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,839 shares of company stock valued at $7,136,292. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $157.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a PEG 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’s fifty day moving average price is $141.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.23.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

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.