Harvest Investment Services LLC Takes $457,000 Position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,575 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald's by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $8,729,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Bell Bank increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth about $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in McDonald's by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,471,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of McDonald's from $360.00 to $353.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $322.74.

McDonald's Price Performance

McDonald's stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $316.60. 2,282,688 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,573,333. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $308.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. McDonald's Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.