Pachira Investments Inc. Buys 78 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Pachira Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 830 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Pachira Investments Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% in the third quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.8% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management boosted its position in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,504 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. Research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Baird R W cut shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.13.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.