McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc reduced its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,247 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,449,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $18,032,353,000 after purchasing an additional 262,147 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,423,773,000 after acquiring an additional 151,161 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,390,035 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,401,570,000 after buying an additional 237,532 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,593,760 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,209,171,000 after buying an additional 199,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,911,764 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,159,877,000 after purchasing an additional 26,147 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. BTIG Research cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.72.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.3 %

McDonald’s stock traded up $3.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $275.61. 3,129,279 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,244,315. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.08. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

About McDonald’s

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.