ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 8,573 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 8,573 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RB Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 761,575 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $90,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $664,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,530 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,862 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $138.50. 1,666,879 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,939,133. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $137.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.17. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.24. The company has a market cap of $38.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on YUM. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.

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