Blue Capital Inc. Acquires New Stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Blue Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,946 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000. McDonald's makes up about 1.2% of Blue Capital Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald's by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in McDonald's by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 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, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after buying an additional 895,896 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McDonald's Price Performance

McDonald's stock traded down $4.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $313.61. 2,128,543 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,567,116. McDonald's Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $309.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.13.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.