McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Position Reduced by Investment House LLC

Investment House LLC cut its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,893 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Investment House LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $4,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 736 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Barn Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.3% in 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 last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.39.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $303.60 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.13. 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 $216.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.