Sovran Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,846 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 329,417 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $100,311,000 after buying an additional 4,480 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 9,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,953,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at about $233,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.9 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $307.47 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $220.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.97.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.