Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,927,991 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,979 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.51% of Yum China worth $92,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in Yum China by 689.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of Yum China 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC opened at $46.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.41 and a 200 day moving average of $47.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.70.

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.

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