Insider Selling: Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CEO Sells 37,252 Shares of Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) 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 value of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC opened at $50.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.54. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $52.00.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Yum China by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Yum China by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% 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.