GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Takes $6.49 Million Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 134,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,486,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUMC. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 16.6% during the 4th 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 period. AXA S.A. lifted its position in Yum China by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,286 shares of the company's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 8,016 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,836,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $746,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth approximately $809,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Up 0.6%

YUMC stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.50. 1,810,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,927,939. The firm's 50 day moving average is $45.83 and its 200 day moving average is $47.09. The firm has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, 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 twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Yum China's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUMC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.