Palisade Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,142 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Palisade Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 50,016 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the period. McDonald’s makes up approximately 1.6% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $14,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,449,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $18,032,353,000 after buying an additional 262,147 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after buying an additional 151,161 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,425,674 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,589,073,000 after buying an additional 35,639 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,593,760 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,209,171,000 after buying an additional 199,657 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,911,764 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,159,877,000 after buying an additional 26,147 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, BTIG Research cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $268.49. 3,241,102 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,299,664. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 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 180.54% and a net margin of 33.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.