Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 86.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 190,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,240,842 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $25,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,996,000 after acquiring an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $157.89 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $139.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180.48. The trade was a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.