McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Holdings Lowered by Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN

Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN reduced its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 42.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 256 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 186 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Econ Financial Services Corp purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth approximately $1,224,000. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Pacific Sage Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC now owns 1,593 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 24,822 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $7,754,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Loop Capital lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $324.00 target price (down previously from $329.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total transaction of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,496.27. The trade was a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 2,817 shares of company stock valued at $865,843 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE MCD opened at $291.50 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $208.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $309.60 and its 200-day moving average is $302.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.75% and a negative return on equity of 195.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.49%.

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.