Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Has $15.33 Million Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,481 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $15,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned 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 $325.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $770,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,713,740. This trade represents a 22.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total value of $281,221.11. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,780,165.67. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of MCD opened at $305.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $276.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $305.33 and a 200-day moving average of $306.59.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.67%.

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.