Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 1,046 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,249 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $7,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after acquiring an additional 128,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,682,473,000 after acquiring an additional 52,195 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,694,202 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,650,692,000 after acquiring an additional 129,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $841,966,000 after acquiring an additional 19,867 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $286,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,978 shares in the company, valued at $4,263,290. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $306.65 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $296.57 and a 200 day moving average of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $219.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results 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, research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. Barclays increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

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.