Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $677,000 Stock Holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,168 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s holdings in McDonald's were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 39,039.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,092,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,982 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $703,074,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $350,935,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in McDonald's by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after buying an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald's Stock Performance

MCD traded down $5.73 on Monday, reaching $296.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,027,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,492,980. The stock has a market cap of $211.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. McDonald's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The company's fifty day moving average is $311.95 and its 200 day moving average is $303.03.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.49%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total transaction of $295,850.73. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,516,496.27. This represents 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. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MCD. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $321.79.

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.