Swiss National Bank Sells 112,500 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,026,600 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 112,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of McDonald’s worth $587,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 736 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 871 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wedbush lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $299.40 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $296.76 and its 200 day moving average is $296.70. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $213.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, research 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, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

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, Spain, and the U.K.