Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Gradient Capital Advisors LLC

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,825 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on YUM shares. 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $146.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $132.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $148.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given 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 51.34%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.