McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management cut its position in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 45.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,979 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 5,847 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at $1,324,961,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 16.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,917,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,954 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 19.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,556,485,000 after purchasing an additional 815,768 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 732.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 650,544 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $203,211,000 after purchasing an additional 572,408 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 204.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 607,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $177,390,000 after purchasing an additional 407,982 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Melius initiated coverage on McDonald’s in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, October 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.43.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 $30,690. This trade represents a 90.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 4,487 shares of company stock valued at $1,395,970 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $302.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $215.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $276.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $306.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.63.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $1.86 dividend. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 60.67%.

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.