DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Reduces Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lowered its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,100 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Yum China were worth $6,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,531,518 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 138.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,241,000 after buying an additional 4,969,073 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at about $243,901,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,751,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,890,000 after buying an additional 2,570,419 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Yum China by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,580,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238,720 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on YUMC shares. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $44.15 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average price of $47.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.28. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

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.