HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,107 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $7,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Yum China by 1,374.5% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 2,749 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC opened at $53.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.69.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum China news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Yum China 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.