Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 173 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,779 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises about 1.4% of Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $19,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $1,394,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,628,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $2,471,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.13.

McDonald’s Trading Up 4.7 %

MCD opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $290.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.16. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % 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, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. This trade represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About McDonald’s

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.