EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,499 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,473,811,000 after acquiring an additional 599,745 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,178,474,000 after purchasing an additional 987,099 shares in the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,664,521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $357.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total value of $291,377.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,209,734.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total value of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,225.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,454,507. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $7.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $276.69. 9,585,900 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,294,537. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $302.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.78. The company has a market cap of $199.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.92% and a net margin of 32.25%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 56.71%.

About McDonald’s

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.