Insider Selling: Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells 5,139 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $23,162,903.10. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $145.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,223,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,019,911. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $152.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. 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 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after acquiring an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $3,306,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.71.

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.