William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $243.90 Million Investment in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,063,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $243,901,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 1.33% of Yum China as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 399.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company's stock worth $179,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,589 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yum China by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock worth $356,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609,494 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at $68,638,000. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in Yum China by 61.4% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,054 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $52.29. 2,085,837 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,755,232. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $53.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $47.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.79.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China's payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.