Marshall Wace LLP Sells 562,154 Shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its stake in Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO - Free Report) by 87.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,266 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 562,154 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Arcos Dorados were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCO. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,210 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,272 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Arcos Dorados during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 55.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Arcos Dorados from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

ARCO opened at $7.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $7.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.96. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.66 and a 52-week high of $11.49.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 3.25% and a return on equity of 29.74%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Arcos Dorados's payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Arcos Dorados Company Profile

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc operates as a franchisee of McDonald's restaurants. It has the exclusive right to own, operate, and grant franchises of McDonald's restaurants in 20 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, the U.S.

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