Sabal Trust CO Acquires 1,706 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sabal Trust CO boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,879 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises about 1.6% of Sabal Trust CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $28,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after acquiring an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 261,350 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $66,023,000 after buying an additional 226,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,805,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCD opened at $310.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $222.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.65. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 10,459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.71, for a total transaction of $3,228,797.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,918.26. The trade was a 69.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,504 shares of company stock worth $9,897,305 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About McDonald’s

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.