Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 5,800 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lowered its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,370 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 5,800 shares during the period. McDonald’s comprises 0.6% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $63,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,288 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Country Club Bank boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 9,948 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,021,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,326 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,840,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 35,395 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $10,778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674 shares during the period. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,820 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $6,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCD. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,205 shares of company stock valued at $6,703,569 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $304.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $218.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $292.61 and its 200-day moving average is $293.92. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

McDonald’s 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.