ING Groep NV Increases Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

ING Groep NV increased its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,786 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,677 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $61,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 9,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This trade represents a 24.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,106 shares of company stock valued at $6,368,814 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $301.71 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

About McDonald’s

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.