McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Purchased by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC increased its position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 402.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,144 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,320 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 110.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $286,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,978 shares in the company, valued at $4,263,290. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 10,459 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.71, for a total transaction of $3,228,797.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,421,918.26. This represents a 69.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,436 shares of company stock worth $4,458,290. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald's Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded down $2.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $314.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,639,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,556,348. The company has a market capitalization of $224.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $311.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.18. McDonald's Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32.

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

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on McDonald's from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $325.91.

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.