Evercore Wealth Management LLC Sells 44,900 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Evercore Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 270,267 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 44,900 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $78,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald's by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in McDonald's by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in McDonald's by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,682,473,000 after purchasing an additional 52,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on McDonald's from $360.00 to $353.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $322.74.

McDonald's Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $316.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,282,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,573,333. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $308.18 and a 200-day moving average of $299.78. McDonald's Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, research analysts predict that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total value of $299,071.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Company 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.