GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Acquires Shares of 2,300 McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. bought a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in McDonald’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Pettee Investors Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in McDonald’s by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 899 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 736 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $316.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $306.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.09. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,461,400 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $353.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.87.

McDonald’s 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.