Rhumbline Advisers Reduces Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 18.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,935 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,315 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Yum China were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Yum China by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 846,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,919,000 after purchasing an additional 75,915 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Yum China by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,199,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,318,000 after acquiring an additional 509,338 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Yum China by 413.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 44,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 35,663 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in Yum China by 23,769.2% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,165,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,313,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152,269 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Yum China by 240.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 72,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after acquiring an additional 50,957 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai acquired 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Joey Wat purchased 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.98 per share, for a total transaction of $129,124.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,274,637.12. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $35.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.34. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $58.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.40.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s payout ratio is 32.16%.

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.