QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $13.41 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,968 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,470 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.3% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,403,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 624.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,158,000 after buying an additional 91,367 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 note on Friday, January 10th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of YUM opened at $153.91 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $155.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.