Certior Financial Group LLC Purchases New Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,332 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $703,074,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,175,326,000 after purchasing an additional 794,536 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 43,591.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $171,241,000 after purchasing an additional 589,359 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,497 shares of company stock worth $8,461,400 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.30.

McDonald’s Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $299.68 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $304.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.80. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $214.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

About McDonald’s

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.