Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 72,149 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lowered its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 179,957 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,149 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $8,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC bought a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Caas Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth $2,704,000. abrdn plc grew its position in Yum China by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 417,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,187,000 after acquiring an additional 46,819 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC increased its stake in Yum China by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 67,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE YUMC opened at $48.38 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.80 and its 200 day moving average is $42.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.33. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly 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 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.