First Trust Advisors LP Takes Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,927,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,874,000 after buying an additional 56,979 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in Yum China by 689.6% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its holdings in Yum China by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 48,344 shares of the company's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,091 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,686 shares of the company's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $6,494,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Stock Down 3.6%

Yum China stock traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $45.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,016,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,910. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $47.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Yum China's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on YUMC shares. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research 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 has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

About Yum China

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.