Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 24,274 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 204.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,118 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,274 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $1,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $243,901,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $199,722,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 399.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 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 shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum China Stock Up 0.6 %

YUMC stock opened at $53.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.03. 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 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 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 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.