Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 544,806 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $170,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 110.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.5%

MCD stock opened at $301.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $215.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $311.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.83.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCD shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.79.

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.