GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Sells 1,600,751 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,298,966 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,600,751 shares during the quarter. Yum China comprises 8.8% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned approximately 2.98% of Yum China worth $544,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at about $243,901,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 399.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,589 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum China by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock worth $356,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609,494 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $68,638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.18. The company had a trading volume of 239,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,551,525. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.38. 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 market cap of $20.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

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.