Navellier & Associates Inc. Buys 895 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,050 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,015,441 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $613,722,000 after purchasing an additional 22,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $304.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MCD. Wedbush boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, 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 22,205 shares of company stock worth $6,703,569 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.