McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,325 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $5,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,713,740. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,780,165.67. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,402 shares of company stock worth $2,273,407 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $300.09 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $306.88 and a 200-day moving average of $306.19. The company has a market capitalization of $214.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $276.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Argus downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.86.

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.