Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 1,516 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Wambolt & Associates LLC lowered its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,932 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,516 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boltwood Capital Management grew its stake in McDonald’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 736 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Barn Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 871 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,656. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $305.85 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $218.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.65.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCD. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.39.

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.