Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,906 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 6,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 8,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $157.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $142.72 and a 200-day moving average of $137.53. The firm has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus upgraded 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Company 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.