12,585 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Bought by Allianz SE

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 12,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,680,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $418,692,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after buying an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $225,025,000 after buying an additional 44,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $155.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G 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 simple moving average is $147.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.65.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 54.41%.

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.