Northern Trust Corp Purchases 601,361 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 601,361 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.27% of Yum! Brands worth $475,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $315,996,000 after purchasing an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $3,306,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,825,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $225,025,000 after purchasing an additional 44,428 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $147.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.71.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $153.81.

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.

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