Strong Tower Advisory Services Grows Stock Position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,122 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in McDonald's were worth $2,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth about $64,805,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald's by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its holdings in McDonald's by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in McDonald's by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,502 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $5,943,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Northcoast Research cut shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $326.13.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. The trade was a 7.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:MCD traded down $2.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $308.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,480,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,489,154. McDonald's Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.34. The stock has a market cap of $220.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. McDonald's's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.49%.

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.