Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 9,587 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 592,760 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,587 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $175,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $306,000. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 23,324 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $6,144,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 81,496 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $21,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares during the period. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MCD. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.63.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $274.36. 1,471,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,309,810. The company has a market cap of $197.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $282.27. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $245.73 and a 1-year high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01). McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.36% and a negative return on equity of 180.54%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 EPS 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 $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

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.