Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Boosts Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3,580.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 261,350 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $81,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the topic of several research reports. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,435.60. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’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 transaction 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. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $298.78 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $214.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $299.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.58.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

McDonald’s Profile

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.