Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,735 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $84,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $243,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $199,722,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 399.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,556,000 after buying an additional 2,980,589 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after buying an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. This trade represents 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. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC opened at $52.97 on Wednesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $53.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.98. The company has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 1.81%. Yum China’s payout ratio is 41.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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.