Westpac Banking Corp Sells 2,916 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 49.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,916 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Yum China were worth $142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Yum China by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Yum China by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in Yum China by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $47.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.16. 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 current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released 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%. Analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Yum China 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.