McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Bought by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,468 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $9,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 617 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $182,000. Smart Portfolios LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Smart Portfolios LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,821 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD stock opened at $299.40 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $296.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.70. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.