Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires 2,259 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 73.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,350 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,177,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Yum China by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after buying an additional 8,101 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $322,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $809,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 8.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 975,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,523,000 after acquiring an additional 76,406 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum China Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $51.27 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.34. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 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, analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

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.