Rathbones Group PLC Sells 97,106 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 475,135 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 97,106 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.07% of McDonald’s worth $137,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,471,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Wedbush raised their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % 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 valued at $8,461,400 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $299.68 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $304.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.