Markel Group Inc. Has $27.57 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 205,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 49,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Yum! Brands worth $27,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 352,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,234,000 after buying an additional 10,526 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,052,000 after purchasing an additional 11,631 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 769 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 102.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,724 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands 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 owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.42.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $157.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $139.32 and its 200-day moving average is $136.52.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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