McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Acquired by Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,546 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,652,768,000 after purchasing an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in McDonald’s by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 10,459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.71, for a total value of $3,228,797.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,918.26. This trade represents a 69.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $286,395.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,263,290. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,436 shares of company stock valued at $4,458,290 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $319.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $228.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $310.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.07. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCD. Barclays lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Northcoast Research cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 price objective on McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.91.

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.