Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,790 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,932 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $21,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during 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 period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $24,353,416.32. This trade represents a 3.24 % 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, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction 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 $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.70.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 8.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $147.52 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.52.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.