T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $22.65 Million Stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 92.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,136 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 978,455 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in McDonald's were worth $22,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 110.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. This represents a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McDonald's Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of MCD traded up $5.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $319.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,558,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,577,190. The company has a 50 day moving average of $308.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.93. The firm has a market cap of $228.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. McDonald's Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. As a group, analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of McDonald's from $350.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.74.

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.