Kentucky Trust Co Makes New $789,000 Investment in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,722 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,472,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 148.8% during the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 311 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its position in McDonald’s by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 27,040 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,733 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 329,417 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $310.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $222.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $291.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.56. 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 data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.