First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Reduces Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown lowered its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 740 shares during the period. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Yum China were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yum China by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth $103,000. Pictet North America Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 35.5% during the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 507,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,785,000 after purchasing an additional 132,977 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Yum China by 4.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Yum China by 4,403.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 15,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 15,280 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUMC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

Yum China Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $47.24 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.47.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.