Isthmus Partners LLC Trims Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Isthmus Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,480 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s accounts for 1.8% of Isthmus Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $15,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE MCD opened at $321.52 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $295.69 and its 200 day moving average is $296.37. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $323.17. The company has a market cap of $229.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.