State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Cuts Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 236,600 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 42,785 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $68,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $703,074,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,175,326,000 after buying an additional 794,536 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1,547.1% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 641,950 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $179,715,000 after acquiring an additional 602,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 43,591.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,497 shares of company stock worth $8,461,400 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.87.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $310.82 on Monday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $222.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $307.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.29.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

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.