Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 324,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,518 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.09% of Yum China worth $15,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum China by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Trading Down 6.0 %

YUMC traded down $2.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.33. 6,305,054 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,960,440. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.53.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum China news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUMC shares. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

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.