GPM Growth Investors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

GPM Growth Investors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD – Get Rating) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,588 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 499 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s accounts for approximately 3.1% of GPM Growth Investors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. GPM Growth Investors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $5,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1,189.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,191,692 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $541,962,000 after buying an additional 2,021,754 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,849,583 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $950,418,000 after buying an additional 1,684,960 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,869,149 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,816,219,000 after buying an additional 1,105,231 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,531,400 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $625,965,000 after buying an additional 776,419 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,879,173 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $433,603,000 after buying an additional 612,854 shares during the period. 66.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $267.20 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $267.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.86. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $228.34 and a twelve month high of $281.67. The company has a market capitalization of $195.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The fast-food giant reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 120.10% and a net margin of 26.65%. The company had revenue of $5.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 10.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were paid a $1.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $6.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $263.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McDonald’s from $250.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on McDonald’s from $298.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.80.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,396 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.44, for a total value of $370,554.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 308 shares in the company, valued at $81,755.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 3,850 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.69, for a total value of $1,030,606.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,637 shares in the company, valued at $9,271,978.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.44, for a total value of $370,554.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 308 shares in the company, valued at $81,755.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,122 shares of company stock worth $2,177,681 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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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.