GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Takes $667,000 Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,039 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $232,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 313.8% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,567 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 14,818 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,296,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 6,697 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,942,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $353.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wedbush increased their price target 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. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total value of $962,432.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,497 shares of company stock worth $8,461,400. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE MCD opened at $316.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $306.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.09.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 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.