Fisher Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,750 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in Yum China in the third quarter worth $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Yum China by 100.2% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 17,898 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Yum China by 21.3% in the third 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, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Yum China by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 8,101 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE YUMC opened at $49.30 on Friday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $52.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.57. 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 (NYSE:YUMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.