Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Sold by Polen Capital Management LLC

Polen Capital Management LLC cut its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 59.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 124,857 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $4,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum China by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $296,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 19,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,251,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $51.53 on Monday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The company has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.41. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered 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.