Caxton Associates LP Takes Position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,910 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald's by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total transaction of $299,071.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" 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 research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a report on Monday. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $325.91.

McDonald's Price Performance

NYSE:MCD opened at $316.94 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $309.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.00. McDonald's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The business's revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. McDonald's's payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.