Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Stock Position in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its position in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 40.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,962 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 14,275 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in McDonald's were worth $6,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Bell Bank boosted its position in shares of McDonald's by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald's by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its position in McDonald's by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 432,406 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $125,350,000 after acquiring an additional 23,024 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald's by 22.9% in the first quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,226 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Finally, Great Waters Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 1st quarter worth about $864,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MCD. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Argus lowered McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 target price (up previously from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Monday, May 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald's currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $321.79.

McDonald's Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:MCD traded down $2.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $286.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,064,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,509,233. McDonald's Corporation has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $310.55 and a 200-day moving average of $302.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.75% and a negative return on equity of 195.27%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total transaction of $295,850.73. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This trade represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.