Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 14,124 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,180 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,124 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Yum China were worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUMC. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company's stock worth $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China in the third quarter valued at $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Yum China by 100.2% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company's stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 17,898 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Yum China by 21.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,510,386 shares of the company's stock worth $113,017,000 after acquiring an additional 441,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Yum China by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 8,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUMC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUMC traded down $0.39 on Monday, hitting $49.02. The company had a trading volume of 3,608,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,825,090. The stock has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.29. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

Yum China Company 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.