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

Cresset Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 43.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,896 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,891 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Yum China were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $18,217,000. Finally, BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $501,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Up 0.9%

YUMC traded up $0.40 on Monday, reaching $44.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,054,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,944,984. The company has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.37.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.