Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 3,927 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 51.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,554 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,927 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,904 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 50,573 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,661,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,903 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCD. KeyCorp increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,205 shares of company stock worth $6,703,569. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.6 %

MCD opened at $304.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.92. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

McDonald’s Company 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.