Swiss National Bank Purchases 4,400 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,139,100 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $651,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,567,030,000 after buying an additional 188,888 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in McDonald’s by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after purchasing an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MCD. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their target price on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE MCD opened at $292.63 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.46. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.