Natural Investments LLC Invests $383,000 in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,322 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $703,074,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 542.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after purchasing an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 43,591.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $171,241,000 after purchasing an additional 589,359 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $121,254,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 518.1% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 348,119 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $100,916,000 after purchasing an additional 291,802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $306.65 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $296.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.68.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s 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.