McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,475 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,587 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $12,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $271.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,017,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,163,395. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $283.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.72. The company has a market capitalization of $196.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $245.73 and a fifty-two week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.74%.

About McDonald’s

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.