First Merchants Corp Has $7.04 Million Stock Holdings in McDonald's Corporation $MCD

First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,097 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in McDonald's were worth $7,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. The trade was a 90.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $770,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. This trade represents a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,402 shares of company stock valued at $1,973,407 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Melius began coverage on shares of McDonald's in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of McDonald's in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of McDonald's from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $324.73.

McDonald's Price Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $294.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.50. The company's fifty day moving average is $306.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.94. McDonald's Corporation has a 52-week low of $276.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald's had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's payout ratio is 60.67%.

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.

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