McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Holdings Trimmed by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its stake in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,161 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 13,264 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in McDonald's were worth $36,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 9,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This represents a 24.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush upped their price objective on McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted 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. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.26.

McDonald's Trading Down 0.6 %

MCD traded down $1.86 on Friday, reaching $311.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,993,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,572,677. The company has a market capitalization of $222.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $309.16 and a 200-day moving average of $299.99. McDonald's Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.