KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 121,200 Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 121,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,838,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 49.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum China by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 975,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,523,000 after acquiring an additional 76,406 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 2,726 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 60,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. This trade represents a 7.13 % 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Yum China Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Yum China stock traded down $1.29 on Friday, hitting $51.89. 1,755,276 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,806,097. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.64. The company has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued 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, sell-side analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were 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 was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Yum China's payout ratio 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.