MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 5,680 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 188,690 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 5,680 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $57,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after purchasing an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after buying an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,015,441 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $613,722,000 after acquiring an additional 22,780 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,597 shares of company stock valued at $10,702,754 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCD. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays increased their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.1 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $296.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.55. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $212.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.65%.

McDonald’s Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.