Pictet North America Advisors SA Decreases Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Pictet North America Advisors SA reduced its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,659 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 4,462 shares during the period. McDonald’s comprises 1.2% of Pictet North America Advisors SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $12,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 329,417 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 5.5% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,865 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.5% in the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 12,490 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $309.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

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.