McDonald's Corporation $MCD Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in McDonald's Corporation by 18.5%, acquiring an additional 5,556 shares, bringing its total holdings to 35,538 shares valued at approximately $10.38 million.
• McDonald’s recently reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $3.19, surpassing analyst expectations, while revenue reached $6.84 billion, a 5.4% increase year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on McDonald's stock, with twelve recommending a Buy, fourteen a Hold, and two a Sell, reflecting diverse outlooks on its market performance.

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 18.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,538 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 5,556 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $10,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 21.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in McDonald's by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the first quarter worth $250,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 4.1% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Barclays increased their target price on McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of McDonald's from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of McDonald's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on McDonald's from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $325.86.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,657,400. The trade was a 10.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. This represents a 22.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,402 shares of company stock worth $2,273,407. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $300.72 on Monday. McDonald's Corporation has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $306.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.15. The firm has a market cap of $214.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50.

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

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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