Welch Group LLC Purchases 4,422 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,824 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after buying an additional 4,422 shares during the quarter. McDonald's accounts for about 2.8% of Welch Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Welch Group LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $62,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in McDonald's by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald's by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in McDonald's by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in McDonald's by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,570,511,000 after acquiring an additional 895,896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total value of $299,071.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,853,850. This represents a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $325.91.

McDonald's Stock Performance

NYSE MCD traded down $0.35 on Tuesday, hitting $312.33. 1,073,568 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,491,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. McDonald's Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $312.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.20.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The business's revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.49%.

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.