Moors & Cabot Inc. Has $226,000 Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 377 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,177,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,510,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,017,000 after purchasing an additional 441,252 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 8,101 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $809,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Stock Up 5.0 %

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $51.53 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.41. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.20%.

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 at Yum China

In other news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.