Insider Selling: Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Insider Sells $188,019.00 in Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Yum China Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $47.19 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.50. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its 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, research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 689.6% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yum China by 43.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 906.5% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.