Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 549 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 42.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,838 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $703,074,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 542.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after buying an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 43,591.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $171,241,000 after buying an additional 589,359 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 518.1% during the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 348,119 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $100,916,000 after acquiring an additional 291,802 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MCD opened at $307.01 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $299.72 and its 200 day moving average is $297.78. The stock has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush upped 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.39.

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.