Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Stake Cut by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 96.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,510 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,887 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Yum China were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Yum China by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 846,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,919,000 after buying an additional 75,915 shares during the period. Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its position in Yum China by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,199,338 shares of the company's stock worth $93,318,000 after purchasing an additional 509,338 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Yum China by 413.0% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 44,299 shares of the company's stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 35,663 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Yum China by 23,769.2% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,165,531 shares of the company's stock worth $134,313,000 after purchasing an additional 3,152,269 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 72,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 50,957 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.36 per share, for a total transaction of $133,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 41,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,379,069.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yum China news, CTO Leila Zhang acquired 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.36 per share, for a total transaction of $133,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 41,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,379,069.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat bought 3,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.98 per share, for a total transaction of $129,124.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,944 shares in the company, valued at $9,274,637.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.00. 1,894,138 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,050,738. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $58.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.34.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.20.

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.