Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Sells 7,387 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC cut its stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,875 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 7,387 shares during the quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $3,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald's by 0.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in McDonald's by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,682,473,000 after purchasing an additional 52,195 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on McDonald's from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.74.

McDonald's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $316.60 on Friday. 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 $226.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The business's 50-day moving average is $308.18 and its 200 day moving average is $299.78.

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

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total transaction of $299,071.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. This trade represents a 7.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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