Axa S.A. Boosts Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

AXA S.A. raised its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,286 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,016 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Yum China were worth $1,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUMC. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 valued at $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 8,101 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,836,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth approximately $809,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $322,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $746,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,747,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,683. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.30.

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

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.