Sandy Spring Bank Cuts Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,399 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 413 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s accounts for approximately 1.0% of Sandy Spring Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $19,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.0 %

MCD opened at $268.62 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.55. The company has a market cap of $193.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $245.73 and a 12-month high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 57.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MCD shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $345.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.00.

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.