Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $8.67 Million Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,897 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. McDonald’s accounts for about 0.8% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $8,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank grew its stake in McDonald’s by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,446 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in McDonald’s by 464.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 395 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,053 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,374 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,405 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,656 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $312.87 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $301.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.99. The company has a market capitalization of $223.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.