Waycross Partners LLC Buys 46,867 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Waycross Partners LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1,818.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,867 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises about 1.9% of Waycross Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $14,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $443,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 21.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 140,807 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $42,877,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $6,472,000. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 11.0% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 1,804 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benin Management CORP lifted its position in McDonald’s by 3.3% during the third quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 2,944 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,906 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,382 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $308.59 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. Research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. McDonald’s’s dividend 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, Spain, and the U.K.