McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Acquired by RiverFront Investment Group LLC

RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,661 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCD. KG&L Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,843 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 6,590 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,888 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 9,407 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the sale, 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.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MCD traded down $2.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $273.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,636,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,338,426. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $245.73 and a 52-week high of $302.39. The company has a market cap of $196.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. BTIG Research downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Nine equities 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.41.

About McDonald’s

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.