Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $16.99 Million Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 43.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 274,900 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Yum China worth $16,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company's stock worth $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,901,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Yum China by 399.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company's stock worth $179,556,000 after buying an additional 2,980,589 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 4,176.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $161,576,000 after buying an additional 3,505,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 61.4% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,492,000 after buying an additional 1,120,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Yum China Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $52.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,617,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,751,914. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $48.19 and its 200-day moving average is $46.34. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, 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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, 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 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.