Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,844 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $9,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at $444,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 6,933 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,499 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors boosted its position in McDonald’s by 4.3% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 1,020 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $283,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This trade represents a 48.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,597 shares of company stock valued at $10,702,754. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCD. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $296.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $299.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.95. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.65%.

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.