National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 738,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,220 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $214,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,729,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank grew its stake in McDonald’s by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,471,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $312.74 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $302.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results 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%. Analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,996 shares of company stock worth $8,897,534. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.