4,198 Shares in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Bought by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUMC. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Yum China by 350.7% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,202,000 after buying an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 100.2% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 17,898 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Yum China by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,510,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,017,000 after purchasing an additional 441,252 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum China Stock Up 1.7 %

Yum China stock opened at $48.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.82. The firm has a market cap of $18.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 27.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

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.