McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Acquired by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 118,555 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,615 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $34,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 110.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $306.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $219.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $301.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.10. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MCD. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,656 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.