D.A. Davidson & CO. Reduces Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,619 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 983 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.9 %

YUM opened at $151.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $134.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.93. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $151.29. The firm has a market cap of $42.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.