E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Decreases Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings in Yum China were worth $1,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Yum China by 350.7% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company's stock worth $189,202,000 after buying an additional 3,270,560 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 17,898 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 64.3% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Yum China by 21.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,510,386 shares of the company's stock worth $113,017,000 after purchasing an additional 441,252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Yum China Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of YUMC traded down $1.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.38. 4,241,584 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,009,961. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.35. The stock has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.