Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Sells 500 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,825 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $146.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $148.20. The firm has a market cap of $40.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

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.