Ellis Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Ellis Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 765 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,324,961,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in McDonald’s by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,917,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,954 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 19.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,556,485,000 after purchasing an additional 815,768 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 732.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 650,544 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $203,211,000 after purchasing an additional 572,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 204.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 607,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $177,390,000 after purchasing an additional 407,982 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at $2,713,740. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,160,270. This trade represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,402 shares of company stock worth $1,973,407. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $373.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $325.18.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:MCD opened at $300.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $214.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.64. McDonald’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $276.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 60.67%.

McDonald’s 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.