Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,823 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 38,387 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $11,382,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 83,051 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $24,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 3,917 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,749 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 17,969 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.2 %

MCD stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $273.07. The company had a trading volume of 6,893,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,313,933. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $280.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.33. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $245.73 and a fifty-two week high of $302.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders 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 2.45%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.74%.

McDonald’s 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.