DnB Asset Management AS Grows Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,106 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 22,765 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $43,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 128,800 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,682,473,000 after purchasing an additional 52,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.2 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $312.87 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.99.

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 negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

McDonald’s Company 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, Spain, and the U.K.