Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Reduces Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 722 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Yum China were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth about $4,146,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Yum China by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in Yum China by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 14,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Yum China by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 6,247 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13% 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 the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $46.12 on Tuesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.34. The company has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. 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 (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Yum China’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

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.