McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) is Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,025 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises about 4.4% of Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Eliot Finkel Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $6,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after acquiring an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in McDonald’s by 43,591.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $171,241,000 after acquiring an additional 589,359 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in McDonald’s by 3,580.1% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $81,807,000 after buying an additional 261,350 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 26,948.9% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,752 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $66,023,000 after buying an additional 226,910 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $308.17 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.27.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

McDonald’s 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.