R Squared Ltd Buys New Holdings in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,589 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,970,000. McDonald’s makes up approximately 2.2% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at $26,000. GFG Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCD. Citigroup lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $381.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $324.50.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.0%

McDonald’s stock opened at $307.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.28 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $306.55 and a 200-day moving average of $305.56.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. The trade was a 90.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,463 shares of company stock worth $1,692,186. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.