Aspire Growth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,159 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 110.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCD. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.91.

McDonald's Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $317.89. The company had a trading volume of 801,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,562,528. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.00. McDonald's Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $227.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 9,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This represents a 24.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.