Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases New Shares in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 198,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,571,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.05% of Yum China at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Yum China by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company's stock worth $2,794,000 after buying an additional 8,101 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,836,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $809,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $746,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum China has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, reaching $44.04. 3,063,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,936,189. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $48.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The company's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other Yum China news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.