Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,197,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343,556 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.37% of Yum China worth $250,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of YUMC. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Yum China by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 1.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $52.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.86. The company has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’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 owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.