Sierra Ocean LLC Purchases Shares of 300 McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $87,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $308.59 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. Analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.