Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stock Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 556,357 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 126,677 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.15% of Yum China worth $26,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter worth $2,177,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company's stock worth $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 8,101 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $809,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,836,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. This trade represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.59. The stock had a trading volume of 4,415,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,814,985. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.03.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China's payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.