Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 63,491 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,113 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.32.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1 %

YUM opened at $158.65 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $164.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.88. The company has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate 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.