Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 1.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,967,353 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 121,617 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Yum China were worth $369,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 4.4% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 12.1% during the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 53.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Warton Wang purchased 3,700 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 25,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,547.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.20.

Yum China Stock Performance

Yum China stock opened at $34.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $58.21.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

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.