Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 5,913 Shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,173 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in McDonald's were worth $34,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in McDonald's by 56.4% in the first quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,719 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the first quarter valued at $571,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 3.2% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 65,192 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $20,364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. boosted its stake in McDonald's by 204.6% in the 1st quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 22,131 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $6,913,000 after buying an additional 14,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its stake in McDonald's by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded up $3.77 on Friday, reaching $298.25. 3,400,107 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,682,701. The business's 50 day moving average price is $301.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.91. McDonald's Corporation has a 12-month low of $250.23 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $213.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 195.27% and a net margin of 31.75%. The firm's revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. Research analysts predict that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total value of $281,221.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,780,165.67. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 8,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,657,400. This represents a 10.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,817 shares of company stock valued at $1,147,992 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCD. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a report on Monday, May 5th. Argus downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital lowered McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald's currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $322.00.

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.