Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,146,535 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,384 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 2.94% of Yum China worth $536,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Susquehanna Advisors Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,531,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 60,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $3,347,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Yum China by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 44,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 4,548 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Yum China by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC traded down $3.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.69. 1,331,518 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,954,924. The stock has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.40 and a 200-day moving average of $47.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China's payout ratio is 41.20%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was 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 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China 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.