Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $536.93 Million Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company's stock worth $2,794,000 after buying an additional 8,101 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter worth about $31,836,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $322,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $809,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Yum China by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 31,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 9,155 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE YUMC traded up $1.19 on Monday, hitting $46.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,000,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,966,075. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.34. The stock has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 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, analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUMC shares. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.