New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 917.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,400 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 71,600 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Yum China were worth $3,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Yum China by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 540.0% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 2,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,608,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,825,090. The company has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. 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 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.29.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 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 paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Yum China's payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on YUMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.57.

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.