McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock Holdings Lifted by American Trust

American Trust lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,713 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 110.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,161 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,496.27. The trade was a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,276 shares of company stock worth $4,419,385. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MCD. Erste Group Bank raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays upped their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.91.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MCD opened at $314.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $224.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $311.68 and its 200-day moving average is $301.50. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.49%.

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.