Sowell Financial Services LLC Sells 919 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Sowell Financial Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,164 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 919 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $6,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. This trade represents a 22.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,270. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Argus lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Loop Capital lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.86.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $302.30 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $276.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $306.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.44. The company has a market capitalization of $215.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.50.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.67%.

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.