Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Position Trimmed by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 864,633 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.23% of Yum China worth $41,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 2,609,494 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,638,000. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,120,054 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Yum China Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC traded down $1.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $52.59. 1,614,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,762,400. The business's 50-day moving average price is $47.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.75. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $53.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS 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 given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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.