Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,804,882 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,048 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.48% of Yum China worth $85,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 43.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Yum China by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 25,639 shares of the company's stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 2.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 12.1% in the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $51.68.

Yum China Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of YUMC traded down $0.76 during trading on Monday, reaching $48.80. 2,473,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,155,965. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.60. 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 twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China's payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

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.