McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,568 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $16,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,729,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank raised its position in McDonald’s by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,681,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth $1,394,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $1,628,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,504 shares of company stock worth $9,897,305. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $309.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $222.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $293.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.82.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.