Modera Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Yum China by 350.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Yum China by 399.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC opened at $50.41 on Thursday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.50. The firm has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.