HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in McDonald's Corporation by 2.8%, owning approximately 1,237,837 shares worth around $386.66 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• McDonald's reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.19 for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $3.15, with revenue increasing by 5.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 60.67%.

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,237,837 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after buying an additional 33,531 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of McDonald's worth $386,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MCD shares. Loop Capital lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $335.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of McDonald's in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on McDonald's from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $326.87.

McDonald's Price Performance

NYSE MCD traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $308.76. The stock had a trading volume of 3,404,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,615,135. McDonald's Corporation has a twelve month low of $274.70 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's 50 day moving average is $298.03 and its 200 day moving average is $304.85.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%. McDonald's's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,780,165.67. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,713,740. The trade was 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 7,280 shares of company stock valued at $2,215,178 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

McDonald's 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.