Waverton Investment Management Ltd Takes $203,000 Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 701 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $304.76 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $292.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.10. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,106 shares of company stock valued at $6,382,112. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.