Salomon & Ludwin LLC Lowers Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,317 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,504 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 2,887 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCD. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MCD opened at $308.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $291.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.20.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 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, Spain, and the U.K.