Railway Pension Investments Ltd Raises Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,600 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $37,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $2,684,899,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in McDonald’s by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 10,702.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,174,426 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $644,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $348,206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD stock traded up $7.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $276.69. The company had a trading volume of 9,585,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,294,537. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.90. The company has a market capitalization of $199.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,285.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,454,507 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. UBS Group cut their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $303.00.

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.