Fmr LLC Increases Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 138.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,558,050 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,969,073 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 2.25% of Yum China worth $412,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,901,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,179,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at $199,722,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 399.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.70.

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Yum China Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of YUMC traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.60. 1,176,542 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,925,179. The firm's fifty day moving average is $49.24 and its 200-day moving average is $47.60. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. 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 earnings per share 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%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Yum China's payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value 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 $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.