J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,610 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $7,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $244,174,000 after acquiring an additional 677,139 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in McDonald’s by 3,580.1% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $81,807,000 after acquiring an additional 261,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 26,948.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,752 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $66,023,000 after acquiring an additional 226,910 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. Guggenheim cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MCD opened at $308.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $291.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.53. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.