United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 777 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

United Asset Strategies Inc. lowered its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,151 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 777 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MCD shares. Argus downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. This represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $770,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,280 shares of company stock valued at $2,525,178. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $313.13 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $298.57 and a 200 day moving average of $305.40. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.67%.

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.