Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 452,079 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 156,845 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.06% of McDonald’s worth $131,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $248,000. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Clune & Associates LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at $981,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $454,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $305.07 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $298.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.53. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.96 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.39.

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.