Venturi Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,607 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% during 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. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $151.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.04.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. 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. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

Insider Activity

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

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.