McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Holdings Raised by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,415 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 2,023 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,472,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 8,838 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 148.8% in the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 311 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. This trade represents a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Baird R W lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on McDonald’s from $334.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.13.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $290.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.