Accredited Investors Inc. Buys 43 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,867 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 325,499 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $94,359,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 501,208 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $145,305,000 after acquiring an additional 25,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 496,317 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $143,878,000 after purchasing an additional 67,259 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.87.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.4 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $304.01 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $305.38 and a 200-day moving average of $298.93. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.