Strategy Asset Managers LLC Sells 87 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lowered its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,312 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,833,510,000 after purchasing an additional 220,365 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,682,473,000 after buying an additional 52,195 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $306.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.10. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $219.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (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, analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

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.