Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Holdings Lowered by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 67.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,654 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barings LLC raised its position in shares of Yum China by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Barings LLC now owns 536,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,858,000 after buying an additional 128,739 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $325,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 25,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,730,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Yum China Stock Up 4.0 %

NYSE YUMC opened at $53.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.55. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $53.69. The company has a market capitalization of $20.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Equities research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.20%.

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.