Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Has $319,000 Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lowered its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 56.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,042 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $416,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 50,273 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $3,534,000. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $157.13 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.39. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.