Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Sells 59,698 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG reduced its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,294 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 59,698 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises 1.2% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $50,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 155,740 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $46,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,286,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 23,244 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $6,892,000 after acquiring an additional 4,190 shares during the period. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 74,427 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $22,068,000 after purchasing an additional 21,413 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $303.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,557,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,793 shares of company stock valued at $1,260,106 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $289.52. 2,145,946 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,554,448. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $302.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $262.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.92% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.17 EPS. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.