Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 4,306 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 132.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,549 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 43.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Yum China by 1.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in Yum China by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 2.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Stock Up 0.2 %

Yum China stock opened at $49.28 on Wednesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.30. The firm has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. On average, analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is 27.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUMC. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

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.