Focused Investors LLC Sells 3,650 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Focused Investors LLC reduced its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 429,850 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 3,650 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s accounts for about 3.9% of Focused Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $124,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,833,510,000 after purchasing an additional 220,365 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after buying an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,682,473,000 after buying an additional 52,195 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,694,202 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,650,692,000 after buying an additional 129,843 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $841,966,000 after acquiring an additional 19,867 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.39.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $305.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $298.75 and a 200 day moving average of $297.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. Analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value 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. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.