Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 14,000 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 189,000 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in McDonald’s were worth $56,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ellevest Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% during the first quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% during the first quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 8,648 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.5% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of McDonald’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $345.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.66.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $279.85. The company had a trading volume of 778,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,660,340. The firm has a market cap of $202.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $264.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.57. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $245.73 and a 1 year high of $299.35.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 30th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.19. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 157.19% and a net margin of 33.31%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.52. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Heidi B. Capozzi sold 688 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $194,387.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,656,168.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 5,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $1,569,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 29,031 shares in the company, valued at $8,128,680. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Heidi B. Capozzi sold 688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $194,387.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,656,168.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,443 shares of company stock worth $5,863,300 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About McDonald’s

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises McDonald's restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company's restaurants offer hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and nuggets, fries, salads, shakes, frozen desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, bakery items, soft drinks, coffee, and beverages and other beverages, as well as breakfast menu, including muffins, Sausages, biscuit and bagel sandwiches, oatmeal, hash browns, breakfast burritos and hotcakes.