Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 244,556 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,047 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.06% of Yum China worth $11,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Yum China by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,967,353 shares of the company's stock worth $369,073,000 after acquiring an additional 121,617 shares during 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 valued at $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its holdings in Yum China by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company's stock worth $133,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,859 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its stake 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 valued at $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $51.68.

Yum China Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE YUMC traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,306,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,496. The company has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 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 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $46.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.79.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Yum China's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China's payout ratio is 28.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.