Aviva PLC Acquires 72,266 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 341,086 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,266 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $16,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Yum China by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents 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 worth $2,242,176 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Trading Down 5.1 %

NYSE:YUMC opened at $45.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.40. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $53.99. The firm has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current fiscal 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 2.11%. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.