Cigna Investments Inc. New Has $2.13 Million Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Cigna Investments Inc. New trimmed its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,338 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,833,510,000 after purchasing an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after purchasing an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $841,966,000 after purchasing an additional 19,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.13.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $290.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.16. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

About McDonald’s

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.