Man Group plc Acquires 312,871 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Man Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 602.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 312,871 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.13% of Yum! Brands worth $48,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,306,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $225,025,000 after purchasing an additional 44,428 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,334 shares of company stock worth $9,734,737. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $147.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,699,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,999,284. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $149.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.97. The stock has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. Yum! Brands'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 business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.70.

About Yum! Brands

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.