Baxter Bros Inc. Sells 500 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Baxter Bros Inc. trimmed its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,412 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $5,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,449,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $18,032,353,000 after purchasing an additional 262,147 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,423,773,000 after buying an additional 151,161 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,390,035 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,401,570,000 after acquiring an additional 237,532 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 4.5% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,911,764 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,159,877,000 after acquiring an additional 26,147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. BTIG Research cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.74.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded down $2.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $270.32. 2,642,344 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,812,742. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $245.73 and a 1 year high of $302.39. The company has a market cap of $194.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $279.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.35.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.54% and a net margin of 33.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

McDonald’s Company 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.