Financial Counselors Inc. Has $60.79 Million Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 209,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 6,445 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s makes up approximately 0.9% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $60,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $8,729,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $2,471,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,405 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,656 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.39.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $307.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.78. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $219.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

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.