McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Purchased by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 29.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,168 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 22,878 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $31,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after buying an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after buying an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCD. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $340.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $324.00 price objective (down from $329.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $321.79.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.5%

McDonald’s stock opened at $301.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $311.84 and a 200-day moving average of $302.83. The stock has a market cap of $215.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This trade represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by 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, Spain, and the U.K.