Driehaus Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,381,026 Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,381,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,524,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.36% of Yum China as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 689.6% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Yum China by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC stock traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $44.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,747,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,683. The firm has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Yum China's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Company 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.