U S Wealth Group LLC. Invests $2.31 Million in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

U S Wealth Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,953 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,305,000. McDonald’s accounts for about 1.7% of U S Wealth Group LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattern Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Bell Bank raised its position in McDonald’s by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth about $2,471,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCD shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp increased their price target on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.30.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $299.68 on Monday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $304.34 and a 200-day moving average of $298.80.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 9,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This trade represents a 24.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,461,400. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.