Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 549 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 42.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,838 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MCD. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.39.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $307.01 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $299.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.78.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,656. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s 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.