McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,028 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 19,156 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $107,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after buying an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $244,174,000 after purchasing an additional 677,139 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter worth $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 8.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after purchasing an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. This trade represents a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,099 shares of company stock worth $10,273,786 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.1 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $296.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $212.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $299.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.82.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

About McDonald’s

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.