Foster Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Foster Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 66.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,424 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 18,277 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.'s holdings in McDonald's were worth $2,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in McDonald's by 1.5% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 117,967 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $33,261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald's by 29.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,948 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV increased its stake in McDonald's by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 42,144 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $11,883,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Emprise Bank acquired a new position in McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at about $659,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in McDonald's by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 46,237 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $13,037,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $315.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares in the company, valued at $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other McDonald's news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total value of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares in the company, valued at $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total value of $291,377.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,209,734.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,096 shares of company stock valued at $1,127,678. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald's Stock Performance

MCD traded up $3.00 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $253.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,045,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,339,751. McDonald's Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $264.59 and its 200-day moving average is $280.48. The firm has a market cap of $182.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 180.74% and a net margin of 33.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. McDonald's's payout ratio is 56.71%.

McDonald's Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.