Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 207.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,842 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 12,713 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,528,000 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. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total transaction of $753,891.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.62.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $147.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,770,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,105. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.