Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 95.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,580,430 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,238,720 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Yum China were worth $220,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquired a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth $243,901,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Yum China by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,751,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570,419 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,179,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $199,722,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum China Stock Up 0.6 %

YUMC stock opened at $53.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released 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%. Research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

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.