Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $68.64 Million Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,424,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,638,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.38% of Yum China at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 43.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Yum China by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Yum China by 1.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Yum China by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $49.72 on Monday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.67 and its 200-day moving average is $44.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The stock was 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 directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.