Balentine LLC Invests $943,000 in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,020 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 39,039.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,092,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,982 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth $350,935,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,175,326,000 after purchasing an additional 794,536 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCD. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.72.

McDonald's Stock Down 1.2%

MCD stock traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $296.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,477,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,528,220. McDonald's Corporation has a 52 week low of $246.12 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $212.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $302.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.72.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.75% and a negative return on equity of 195.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total transaction of $270,920.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,222 shares in the company, valued at $2,949,251.44. The trade was a 8.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 8,858 shares in the company, 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 sold a total of 3,817 shares of company stock worth $1,165,843 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.