California Public Employees Retirement System Has $1.16 Billion Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,911,764 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,147 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s makes up approximately 0.9% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.54% of McDonald’s worth $1,159,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,449,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $18,032,353,000 after acquiring an additional 262,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after acquiring an additional 151,161 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,390,035 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,401,570,000 after acquiring an additional 237,532 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,593,760 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,209,171,000 after acquiring an additional 199,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,997,877 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $789,762,000 after acquiring an additional 429,000 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.72.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $275.61. 3,129,279 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,244,315. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $283.10 and its 200-day moving average is $281.08. The company has a market cap of $198.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $245.73 and a 12 month high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

About McDonald’s

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.