Banco Santander S.A. Increases Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,824 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $10,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,682,473,000 after acquiring an additional 52,195 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,694,202 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,650,692,000 after acquiring an additional 129,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $841,966,000 after purchasing an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $321.52 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $323.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.25.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 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.