Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,068 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Yum China by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 3,107.1% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Yum China during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Price Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.92. 535,726 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,065,031. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $58.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.76 and its 200-day moving average is $36.17.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s payout ratio is 32.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai acquired 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,608. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,608. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joey Wat purchased 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.98 per share, for a total transaction of $129,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,274,637.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Yum China

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.