Sherman Asset Management Inc. Invests $112,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $112,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $156.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.60. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $156.56.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on YUM. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.32.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.