Janus Henderson Group PLC Takes $2.18 Million Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 46,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,177,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Yum China by 1.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,967,353 shares of the company's stock worth $369,073,000 after purchasing an additional 121,617 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Yum China by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock worth $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in Yum China by 56.3% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,203,000 after buying an additional 1,582,859 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 350.7% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company's stock worth $161,576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUMC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,494,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,158,798. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $46.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.55.

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

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.32%.

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.