Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 91,367 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 624.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 106,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,367 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.7% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $147.80 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $41.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company 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.