107,355 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Bought by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 107,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $14,403,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value 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 approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $155.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day moving average is $137.05. The firm has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

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.