Clarius Group LLC Sells 280 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Clarius Group LLC cut its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,226 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter worth $26,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter worth $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MCD stock opened at $300.72 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $276.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $306.93 and a 200-day moving average of $306.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.86.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total value of $281,221.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,780,165.67. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,690. This represents a 90.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,402 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,407. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.