McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 452,079 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 156,845 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $131,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.39.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $305.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $217.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.53.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio 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.