Geode Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 26.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,266,614 shares of the company’s stock after selling 830,274 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.60% of Yum China worth $101,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew 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 worth $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in Yum China by 56.3% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after buying an additional 1,582,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Yum China by 171.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,812,000 after buying an additional 1,307,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:YUMC opened at $48.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $52.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on YUMC shares. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.68.

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.