Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 253,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 7,036 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Yum! Brands worth $34,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $14,172,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $232,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its position in Yum! Brands by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,064,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $277,005,000 after acquiring an additional 120,434 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 47,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $144.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.02. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, 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. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.24.

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.