Willis Investment Counsel Raises Holdings in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 13.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,791 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 8,991 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $21,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in McDonald’s by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. SSA Swiss Advisors AG purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $175,000. PFG Advisors raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 18.1% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,217 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the first quarter worth $815,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCD. Guggenheim lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $322.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $324.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,160,270. This trade represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.42, for a total transaction of $3,945,716.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,734.52. This represents a 74.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,329 shares of company stock valued at $5,237,811. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $303.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $216.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.41. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $276.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

McDonald’s 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.