McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Signet Financial Management LLC

Signet Financial Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 18.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,756 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 1,263 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $1,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattern Capital Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald's by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Bell Bank boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 432,406 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $125,350,000 after buying an additional 23,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in McDonald's by 1,547.1% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 641,950 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $179,715,000 after acquiring an additional 602,976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Northcoast Research cut shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $324.00 target price (down previously from $329.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $321.79.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $4.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $300.25. 4,696,045 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,504,499. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $312.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. McDonald's Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32.

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

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,516,496.27. This trade represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.