Defined Financial Planning LLC Buys New Position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Defined Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,946 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth $703,074,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald's by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,175,326,000 after buying an additional 794,536 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in McDonald's by 1,547.1% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 641,950 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $179,715,000 after buying an additional 602,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in McDonald's by 43,591.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $171,241,000 after acquiring an additional 589,359 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $322.87.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,461,400 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald's Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MCD traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $310.82. 2,726,918 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,584,180. McDonald's Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.30. The firm has a market cap of $222.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.