Dodge & Cox Sells 2,172,600 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Dodge & Cox lowered its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,512,162 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,172,600 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox owned about 2.24% of Yum China worth $410,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of Yum China stock traded down $2.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,305,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,959,913. 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 company has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The firm's 50-day moving average is $48.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.53. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Yum China's payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.