Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 11,541.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,678 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 140,461 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $18,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,947,399 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $784,673,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $720,485,000 after acquiring an additional 210,238 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,507,237 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $652,773,000 after acquiring an additional 901,181 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,365,517 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $517,792,000 after purchasing an additional 67,468 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $409,596,000 after purchasing an additional 124,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total transaction of $485,312.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,406,963.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total transaction of $485,312.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,406,963.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,742 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,628 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,945,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,874. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.60.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.00.

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.