McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Acquired by American Trust

American Trust lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,713 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in McDonald's were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 7,486 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Pettee Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 899 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 871 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diligent Investors LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 4,746 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total transaction of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,161 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,496.27. The trade was a 7.76% 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 Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,878 shares of company stock worth $904,192 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald's Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MCD traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $312.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,933,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,531,653. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $311.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $301.75. The company has a market capitalization of $223.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. McDonald's Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The business's revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

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.