Ameriprise Financial Inc. Increases Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 74.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 461,597 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 196,815 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.12% of Yum China worth $22,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Yum China by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 8,101 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth about $31,836,000. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in Yum China by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,286 shares of the company's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 8,016 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth about $809,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on YUMC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,019,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,944,544. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

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.