McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 152,375 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 3,784 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $44,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,667 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 194,797 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $56,470,000 after buying an additional 80,467 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 318,805 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $92,418,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 4,472 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.1 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $306.83 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $297.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.19. The stock has a market cap of $219.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 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%. Research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade 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 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.39.

About McDonald’s

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.