Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. Has $4.02 Million Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 6.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,869 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 930 shares during the period. McDonald’s makes up about 2.5% of Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $4,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 988 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 7,486 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,117 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 899 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,496.27. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MCD. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.79.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $300.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $214.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $311.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.84. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.49%.

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, Spain, and the U.K.