Jeff Kuai Sells 3,900 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Yum China Price Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,665,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,452,875. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $52.00.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $49.57.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company's stock worth $500,841,000 after buying an additional 2,531,518 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,361,804 shares of the company's stock worth $499,127,000 after buying an additional 448,188 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 138.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company's stock worth $412,241,000 after buying an additional 4,969,073 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $243,901,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,751,662 shares of the company's stock worth $228,890,000 after buying an additional 2,570,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

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.