New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 991,024 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 10,239 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of McDonald's worth $287,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in McDonald's during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in McDonald's during the third quarter valued at $44,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCD. Wedbush increased 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. Guggenheim lowered McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp increased 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. Finally, Baird R W lowered McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald's Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCD stock traded up $0.95 on Thursday, reaching $302.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,018,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,203,582. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $292.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.51. McDonald's Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $217.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,106 shares of company stock worth $6,368,814 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.