Francis Financial Inc. Has $1.56 Million Holdings in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Key Points

• Francis Financial Inc. increased its stake in McDonald's Corporation by 195.0% in the first quarter, now owning approximately $1.56 million worth of shares.
• McDonald's has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, with an annualized payout of $7.08, representing a 2.3% yield.
• Despite a recent downturn in stock price, analysts set a new consensus target price of $326.87 for McDonald's, with an average rating of "Hold".

Francis Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 195.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,998 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,304 shares during the period. Francis Financial Inc.'s holdings in McDonald's were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in McDonald's by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,692,000 after buying an additional 1,649 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in McDonald's by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in McDonald's by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 209,464 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $60,722,000 after buying an additional 27,774 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC boosted its position in McDonald's by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 14,677 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,255,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in McDonald's by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,972 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCD shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $326.87.

McDonald's Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MCD traded up $3.57 on Thursday, reaching $308.64. 4,698,548 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,468,737. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $298.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.85. McDonald's Corporation has a 12 month low of $271.85 and a 12 month high of $326.32.

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

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. McDonald's's payout ratio is currently 60.67%.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 8,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,400. The trade was a 10.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,780,165.67. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,280 shares of company stock worth $2,215,178. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.