McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Bought by Sterling Financial Planning Inc.

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,042 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 103.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 413 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 7.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $17,266,000 after buying an additional 5,007 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 516,408 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $127,697,000 after buying an additional 23,643 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,108,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 59.7% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 9,338 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 3,490 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $270.98. 3,297,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,248,558. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $283.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.69. The company has a market cap of $195.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $245.73 and a one year high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.72.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.