Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,518 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.09% of Yum China worth $15,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock worth $356,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $533,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth $459,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China in the third quarter valued at $868,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented 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 research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.23. 1,176,624 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,953,449. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The business's 50 day moving average is $48.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.45. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. On average, equities analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.