Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Stake Lessened by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC cut its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,882 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,851 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Yum China were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Yum China by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Yum China stock traded up $1.28 on Monday, hitting $45.67. 1,922,432 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,916,131. The stock has a market cap of $17.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The firm's 50-day moving average is $49.25 and its 200 day moving average is $47.60. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. This is a positive change from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China's payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

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.