Waverton Investment Management Ltd Buys 3,270,560 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 350.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,203,087 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the quarter. Yum China makes up approximately 3.1% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd owned approximately 1.09% of Yum China worth $189,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Yum China by 91.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 17,548 shares of the company's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 8,394 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 16.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 266,021 shares of the company's stock worth $10,585,000 after purchasing an additional 36,660 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Yum China by 5.9% in the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 9,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Yum China by 294.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 513,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,384,000 after acquiring an additional 383,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum China by 243.1% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 33,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Macquarie raised Yum China from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum China presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $867,547.41. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum China news, insider Warton Wang purchased 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,023 shares in the company, valued at $867,547.41. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,849.12. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $492,063 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded down $1.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,846,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,257,184. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $52.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.81 and a 200-day moving average of $36.94.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date 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.