McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,285 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 909 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MCD opened at $300.72 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $276.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.50.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.86.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,400. This trade represents a 10.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,780,165.67. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,402 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,407. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.