Aviva PLC Raises Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Aviva PLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 432,406 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 23,024 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned about 0.06% of McDonald’s worth $125,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $703,074,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,175,326,000 after buying an additional 794,536 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 43,591.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $171,241,000 after acquiring an additional 589,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MCD. Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $360.00 to $353.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $299.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $304.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.72. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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, Spain, and the U.K.