MML Investors Services LLC Has $2.96 Million Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 24.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,817 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,024 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Yum China were worth $2,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 56.3% during the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,859 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Yum China by 350.7% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company's stock worth $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% in the 3rd 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 period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Yum China Price Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.56. 2,495,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,076,851. The company has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. 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 one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $52.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.60.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is 28.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.