LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Cuts Stake in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC cut its position in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,177 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 5,169 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $3,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in McDonald's by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 1,649 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 209,464 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $60,722,000 after purchasing an additional 27,774 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,882,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,960 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,757,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCD shares. Northcoast Research downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Argus downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $321.79.

McDonald's Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:MCD traded up $6.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $291.94. 7,416,108 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,547,534. The firm's fifty day moving average is $308.26 and its 200-day moving average is $302.43. McDonald's Corporation has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.56.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 195.27% and a net margin of 31.75%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total value of $270,920.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,222 shares in the company, valued at $2,949,251.44. This trade represents a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,817 shares of company stock worth $865,843 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.