Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 43.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 352,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274,900 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Yum China worth $16,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUMC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum China by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,841,000 after buying an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $243,901,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in 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 worth $179,556,000 after buying an additional 2,980,589 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Yum China by 4,176.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after buying an additional 3,505,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in Yum China by 61.4% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,492,000 after buying an additional 1,120,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE YUMC opened at $52.29 on Friday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut 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.