Comerica Bank Reduces Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Comerica Bank lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,994 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 11,381 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $72,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,780,000. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 119,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $34,645,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 811.1% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 109,215 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $31,660,000 after purchasing an additional 97,228 shares during the last quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in McDonald’s by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP now owns 7,531 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 414.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their target price on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.74.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.7 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $314.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $224.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.93. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total transaction of $299,071.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.