Raiffeisen Bank International AG Invests $229,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,713 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 61,814 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,293,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $553,000. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 602.1% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $48,946,000 after acquiring an additional 312,871 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 34,637 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,684,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,234,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.70.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,334 shares of company stock worth $9,734,737 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.8%

YUM stock traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,841,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,005,797. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.24. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

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.