Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Insider Sells $188,019.00 in Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $47.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.47. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Yum China’s payout ratio is 27.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $243,901,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,969,073 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,179,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $199,722,000. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Yum China

Yum China Holdings, Inc owns, operates, and franchises restaurants in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through KFC, Pizza Hut, and All Other segments. It operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Lavazza, Little Sheep, and Huang Ji Huang concepts. The company also operates V-Gold Mall, a mobile e-commerce platform to sell products; and offers online food deliver services.