Blue Chip Partners LLC Sells 3,163 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Blue Chip Partners LLC lessened its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,694 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 3,163 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $5,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $244,174,000 after purchasing an additional 677,139 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at about $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 3,580.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $81,807,000 after buying an additional 261,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 26,948.9% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,752 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $66,023,000 after acquiring an additional 226,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MCD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $308.59 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.90. The stock has a market cap of $221.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

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.