Diligent Investors LLC Buys 36 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Diligent Investors LLC increased its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,746 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $703,074,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $350,935,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,175,326,000 after buying an additional 794,536 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Northcoast Research cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.91.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $316.94 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $309.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.00. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $226.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $286,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,263,290. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.