Insider Selling: Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CTO Sells $202,360.00 in Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC opened at $51.53 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.41. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) 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%. Equities analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS 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 dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum China

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Yum China by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Yum China by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,361,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,127,000 after acquiring an additional 448,188 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Yum China by 138.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,969,073 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,901,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 117.8% in the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

About Yum China

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.