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

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 163,657 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,107 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Yum China were worth $7,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUMC. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in Yum China by 1,374.5% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,749 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

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Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUMC traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,085,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,599,436. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.79.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.