McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Bought by Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,833,510,000 after purchasing an additional 220,365 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $841,966,000 after buying an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,015,441 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $613,722,000 after buying an additional 22,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.60, for a total value of $334,755.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $475,176. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,205 shares of company stock worth $6,703,569. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MCD opened at $304.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $218.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $292.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.76. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

McDonald’s Company 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.