Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Stock Holdings Decreased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 38.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,396,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,481,290 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Yum China were worth $115,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $243,901,000. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $412,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,969,073 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,179,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $199,722,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Yum China by 399.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,556,000 after buying an additional 2,980,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC opened at $44.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.54. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $53.99.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of 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.