11,534 Shares in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Purchased by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 11,534 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,420,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.6% during the third quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,912 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 6,386 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Northstar Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 4,776 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,796 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,113,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 5.4% during the third quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 855 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCD. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BTIG Research lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.74.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $5,140,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock traded down $2.96 on Friday, reaching $270.32. 2,642,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,812,742. The company has a market capitalization of $194.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $245.73 and a one year high of $302.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $279.53 and a 200 day moving average of $282.35.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

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