Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 157,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.24% of McDonald’s worth $4,652,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,446 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $687,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 13,943 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,246,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth $938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’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 approximately $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,996 shares of company stock worth $8,897,534 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $312.74 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $302.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.35.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 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, Spain, and the U.K.