Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Raises Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,620 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,466 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Yum China were worth $18,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Yum China by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Yum China by 1,374.5% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $159,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $53.19 on Friday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $20.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.43.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is 41.20%.

Yum China Company Profile

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.