McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock Position Lifted by Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,607 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MCD shares. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $310.16 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.56. The company has a market cap of $222.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.